Transgender Pageant Queen Unveils Sexy New PETA Campaign
Jenna Talackova to Promote Vegan Eating on E!’s Brave New Girls
For Immediate Release:
January 23, 2014
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
In 2012, she won global acclaim for being the first transgender woman to compete for the Miss Universe title—and now, Jenna Talackova has swapped her sash and tiara for the barely there, colourful cabbage bikini and regal carrot crown that she wears in her brand-new PETA ad, available here, which proclaims that her “healthiest transformation” was “going vegan.”
In an exclusive PETA interview, Talackova—whose new reality series, Brave New Girls, airs Sundays on E!—opens up about the undercover footage of factory farms that prompted her to go vegan. “I don’t think words can describe seeing an animal tortured like that,” she says. “It’s unethical, and it’s something I want to fight against.” And she’s proud of her decision: “You are what you eat,” she says, “and I’d rather be a fruit than a dead, rotting carcass.”
Many studies have shown that vegans have lower rates of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes than meat-eaters do, but they aren’t just boosting their health by shunning animal products. Eating vegan also drastically reduces people’s carbon footprints and spares animals immense suffering on factory farms, in slaughterhouses, and on the decks of fishing boats.
Brave New Girls follows Talackova as she moves from Vancouver to Toronto to pursue a modeling career. The second episode features behind-the-scenes footage from her PETA photo shoot in New York—it airs Sunday, January 26, at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on E!.
Talackova joins a long list of celebrities—including Mayim Bialik, Joan Jett, Rocsi Diaz, Alicia Silverstone, drag superstar Sharon Needles, Pamela Anderson, and Joaquin Phoenix—who have teamed up with PETA to promote healthy and humane meat-free meals.
Broadcast-quality video footage of Talackova’s interview can be downloaded here. For more information, please visit PETA.org or click here.
