Tommy Lee’s Colorful Plea to Arkansas Officials: Drop the Cruel ‘Turkey Drop’

For Immediate Release:
November 15, 2017

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Rock icon Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe has sent a letter urging the mayor of Yellville, Arkansas, to put an end to the city’s cruel annual “turkey drop,” in which live turkeys are thrown out of planes during the Turkey Trot festival.

“I’ve met some wild Arkansans over the years while touring there with Mötley Crüe, and I thought I’d heard it all,” writes Lee. “But I just heard from my friends at PETA about a twisted Ozark ritual that even the most deranged headbanger couldn’t invent: dropping live turkeys from a plane as the ‘entertainment’ at the ‘family-friendly’ Turkey Trot festival. I’m writing to add my voice to the thousands of others asking you to help deep-six this sick stunt.”

Lee’s full letter is available here and appears below.

November 15, 2017

The Honorable Shawn Lane

Mayor of Yellville

Dear Mayor Lane,

I’ve met some wild Arkansans over the years while touring there with Mötley Crüe, and I thought I’d heard it all. But I just heard from my friends at PETA about a twisted Ozark ritual that even the most deranged headbanger couldn’t invent: dropping live turkeys from a plane as the “entertainment” at the “family-friendly” Turkey Trot festival. I’m writing to add my voice to the thousands of others asking you to help deep-six this sick stunt.

Arkansas offers plenty of cool outdoor gatherings that don’t rely on sadism, from the Lights of the Ozarks and the Mountain View Bluegrass Festival to my favorite: Wild Women Wednesday at Pinnacle Mountain State Park. If those attending the Turkey Trot want blood and guts, they can hit the Sun Valley Cinema afterward and see the newest slasher movie.

Yellville’s event was just dubbed a “festival of cruelty” by a conservative columnist and a “horrific act of abuse” by a poultry science professor at the University of Arkansas.

As a longtime fan of the Ozarks, I respectfully ask you and the Chamber of Commerce to use your power to drop the turkey drop.

Sincerely,

Tommy Lee

cc:    Yellville Chamber of Commerce