When PETA attacks

Last week, Beyonce was ambushed by two PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) members at the posh New York restaurant Nobu. VH1 held an auction on Ebay to benefit their Save the Music Foundation, where fans could bid on winning a lunch with B herself. The two winning "fans" were actually members of PETA and proceeded to question/harass/badger/humiliate B about wearing fur and using it in her (wack) fashion line House of Dereon. All of this was caught on tape and is now circulating the internet like wildfire. B sat there stunned and literally speechless as the PETA members pulled out a DVD player and attempted to show a video starring Pamela Anderson that showed how animals are gassed and electrocuted for their fur. PETA released a statement saying that the reason for ambushing her in this manner is because she has refused to respond to polite requests to sit down and talk with them.

I won't get into the whole debate about whether or not it's wrong to wear fur – it's a personal decision and I love furry non-violent animals so you can take a guess at where I stand on the issue. However, I think PETA really needs to change its tactics or no one will ever take them, or the good work they do seriously.

About a year or so ago, PETA activist Heather Mills McCartney (soon to be ex-wife of Paul McCartney) threatened to stalk J-Lo until she stopped wearing fur. She also showed up at J-Lo's Manhattan office to show her a PETA video. Instead of meeting J-Lo, she was met by her security guards and after a rough and tumble scuffle, her prosthetic leg became detached. Because she obviously came to cause problems, the guards refused to let her the use the bathroom to pull herself together, so she was force to reassemble her leg in the stairwell. PETA members have also thrown pies at US Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (a notorious fur wearer), thrown gallons of paint on fur wearers as they walk down the street, and picketed outside the home of the president of KFC.

I understand that PETA feels they need to use these extreme tactics in order to garner media attention, but they can't honestly believe that celebrities are actually going to take to heart their message when they go about it in this way. Let's say for example, my boss really hates white shirts and goes ballistic everytime someone in the office shows up to work wearing a white shirt. As soon as he sees the white shirt wearer he yells at the top of his lungs "YOU COTDAMN MUTHERF*CKERS AND YOUR F*CKING WHITE SHIRTS!!! DIE BITCHES, DIIIIIIIIIIE!!!!" Would that deter me from wearing white shirts to work? Probably not, because I would be so incredibly annoyed by his tactics that I would continue to wear white shirts just for the sheer pleasure of seeing him get pissed off everyday.

Just like it isn't cool to wear fur, it's not cool to wear white shirts either. You're guaranteed to dribble your lunch or morning coffee all over your chest just because you were bold enough to wear white. You'll also get that permanent ring around the collar that won't go away despite repeated trips to the dry cleaners, and the cuffs of your shirt will get all brown and nasty from constantly moving your arms across your desk. By noon, you'll be a filthy mess and it'll look like you've been wearing that white shirt for 4 days instead of 4 hours. Yes, white shirts are bad and I try not to wear them. But if I had an asshole boss that threw Reece's Pieces at me whenever I walked past and posted huge signs around my cubicle that said " White shirt, white shirt. This hoe is always wearing a white shirt," I guarantee I wouldn't let that steal my thunder. And if I feel that way, an extreme introvert that doesn't like to call attention to herself, imagine the mindset of egomaniacal, publicity loving, the world revolves around me, celebrities! With the exception of Beyonce (who genuinely seemed sad and hurt by the ambush) I'm sure that many celebrities could care less if they are on PETA's shitlist. PETA does do great work in raising awareness about animal cruelty, but if they don't get their act together, they'll just become a laughing stock like FEMA or George W. Bush.