Gladiator II’s Baby Monkey Has PETA Siding With Wicked in Box Office Battle

For Immediate Release:
November 22, 2024

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

A baby monkey named Sherry—who, in the wild, would still be living with her mother—appears as the “pet” of Emperor Caracalla in Gladiator II, released today. Studies show that such portrayals are damaging to conservation efforts, fuel the dangerous demand for “pet” monkeys, and lead to a profound misunderstanding about the suffering primates endure in the name of “entertainment”—especially when removed as infants from their doting mothers. Please see the following statement from PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Wildlife Debbie Metzler, a primatologist:

Instead of using movie magic to create primates like its “Glicked” competitor, Paramount Pictures made a colossally bad move for Gladiator II by featuring a baby monkey stolen from her mother, shoving her onto a crowded, noisy film set, and forcing her to perform over and over again what to her are confusing and senseless moves. PETA urges anyone torn over which flick to pick this weekend to opt for Wicked, which shows how cinema can change for the better by leaving real primates in peace.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—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 PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.