Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, Joaquin Phoenix, George Lopez, Other Luminaries Celebrate PETA’s 40th Anniversary at Virtual Event
For Immediate Release:
December 13, 2020
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Last night, PETA marked its 40th anniversary with a virtual, star-studded party to celebrate its landmark victories for animals and honor the many celebrities who have helped make them happen. Cohosted by Alan Cumming in Scotland and Edie Falco in New York, the group toasted “Godfather of Punk” Iggy Pop, rapper and producer Jermaine Dupri, Emmy Award winner Lily Tomlin, actor and singer Kat Graham, and other stars with Humanitarian Awards.
Additional celebrities who made special appearances include Sir Paul McCartney, Mariah Carey, Dolly Parton, Patrick Mahomes, Gillian Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Anjelica Huston, James Cromwell, Casey Affleck, Chrissie Hynde, Belinda Carlisle, Bill Maher, Pamela Anderson, Jackie Chan, Tim Gunn, Jillian Michaels, Kate del Castillo, George Lopez, and Vivien Lyra Blair. Jesse & Joy performed their hit song “Love” all the way from Mexico, and Joaquin Phoenix and his family presented the River Phoenix Activist Award to one of PETA’s intrepid investigators, who went undercover to expose violence in the wool industry. Video clips are available here.
Carey presented a Humanitarian Award to her frequent collaborator Dupri for starring in numerous PETA campaigns promoting vegan eating. Accepting it from his Atlanta studio, he said, “I became vegan for my own health, but the longer I’ve been at it, the more it became about others: the animals, food justice for our community, and the health of our planet.”
In Nashville, Parton bestowed the prize on Tomlin exactly 40 years after they starred together in the classic film 9 to 5. Tomlin, whose many efforts for PETA have included a video condemning SeaWorld as her iconic Laugh-In character Ernestine, said, “As a cause queen, I care about many issues, but when it comes to helping animals, PETA is one-stop shopping.”
Pop donated his song “Free” to PETA for a video shining a spotlight on monkeys suffering in medical laboratories and collected his award from his longtime friend Hynde. He said, “Once you reach a certain age, people start giving you lifetime achievement awards, which is nice and everything. I like this one. It means I’ve helped PETA fight back against … [animal] abusers. That’s something I’m really proud of.”
Graham, whose PETA video encourages everyone to fight speciesism, the human-supremacist worldview that animals are ours to exploit and kill at will, was also recognized. Accepting the award alongside some feisty rescued goats at a farmed animal sanctuary, she said, “We can all change the world by leading by example, and that is what PETA has always done so beautifully. … The animals like the ones around me right now are not sweaters. Cows aren’t burgers. Mice aren’t lab equipment. They feel. They understand. And they’re not ours to dominate.”
Maher made a special “New Rule” for the occasion called “Listen to PETA,” and Huston (and her cat companions) previewed the documentary she executive produced about the PETA fieldworkers helping backyard dogs in Virginia, Breaking the Chain. Cumming closed the show with a performance of the traditional Scottish song “We’re No Awa’ Tae Bide Awa’” on the piano.
“Forty years ago, car companies used pigs as crash-test dummies and people thought a vegan was someone from Las Vegas,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Today, animals in laboratories are being replaced with supercomputers and organs-on-chips, fur is dead, elephants are out of the circus, and the ‘Tiger King’ is in jail.”
PETA’s motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
