Leonardo DiCaprio Blasted After Chimp Crazy Reveal: Costar in The Wolf of Wall Street Dead at 15

For Immediate Release:
September 9, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Following the finale of Chimp Crazy—which explored the life of Chance, a chimpanzee who appeared in The Wolf of Wall Street at the suggestion of Leonardo DiCaprio—the Oscar winner is being taken to task for ignoring PETA’s plea to help save him after the series revealed that he recently died at a seedy private compound. Now, PETA is calling on DiCaprio—who learned about Chance’s miserable background over a decade ago, prior to the film’s release—to commit to never again using any primates in his productions by signing its Primate Protection Pledge.

Chance was torn away from his mother and sold as an infant to Pam Rosaire, who forced him to perform in circus-style shows at a roadside zoo while being yanked by a rope around his neck, as seen in footage obtained by PETA. The group implored DiCaprio to intervene and help secure Chance’s retirement to an accredited sanctuary, but the plea went unanswered, and the chimpanzee died at just 15 years old. His cause of death remains unknown.

“From being forced to wear roller skates as a gag for a movie to being yanked by a rope around his neck in circus-style shows at a miserable roadside zoo, Chance never knew so much as a moment of freedom and died young,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel for Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet, who appears in Chimp Crazy. “While it’s too late to save Chance, DiCaprio could, at the very least, honor his memory by finally taking a stand for other primates being exploited by the entertainment industry and banning them from his productions by signing PETA’s Primate Protection Pledge.”

Primates used in the entertainment industry are typically taken away from their mothers as babies and frequently denied adequate psychological and social stimulation, proper exercise, and the opportunity to engage in natural behavior. Many suffer from debilitating loneliness and depression. Since The Wolf of Wall Street was released, PETA’s work has ended the use of chimpanzees in films, and the group is working to ensure that no more primates—or any other animals—are exploited by the film and television industries or held in roadside zoos.

Chimp Crazy has kicked off a wave of support for the bipartisan Captive Primate Safety Act, which would prohibit private ownership, private breeding, and commercial activity involving primates used in the pet trade.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.