Russell Simmons, John Salley Star in PETA’s ‘Vegetarian Icon’ Stamps

For Immediate Release:
November 21, 2013

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

PETA is going postal—literally. Just in time for holiday cards, the animal rights group is launching a limited-edition sheet of U.S. Postal Service–approved photo stamps honoring celebrated vegetarians—including longtime vegans Russell Simmons and John Salley—and we thought you might be interested in covering this unique project.

NBA hall-of-famer Salley first thought about going vegan after sampling the delicious plant-based food on the set of his 2007 PETA campaign—and soon afterward, he made the switch. “I … wanted my body and libido back from when I was 26,” he told the Los Angeles Times, “and I got them both.” And Salley wishes he’d gone vegan sooner. “If I had a vegan lifestyle when I was playing, I would still be playing,” he says.

Simmons, who has been vegan for more than 12 years, has called the meat industry “maybe the worst disaster in human history—15 billion suffering farm animals. And I don’t want to participate in it.”  Instead, the hip-hop mogul chooses fresh vegan meals—and at 56, his healthy lifestyle is paying off. “I don’t eat animal[s] or animal products, and I feel fine,” he says. “I feel pretty healthy.”

Images of the new stamp sheet—which is available for purchase at PETA.org  and also features Paul McCartney, Pamela Anderson, Casey Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, and many others—can be previewed here.