Maroon 5, Adam Levine Receive Unlikely Support For Controversial ‘Animals’ Video

Maroon 5’s new video for their single “Animals” has been blasted up and down by women’s groups outraged at how the video promotes stalking as a natural part of the courting process. However, Adam Levine and company have actually found support for the video from an unlikely source: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

According to MSN, PETA has thrown their support behind Maroon 5’s controversial new music video. They applaud the scene in which Adam Levine — who plays a crazed meat merchant stalking a beautiful blonde — becomes blood-drenched inside his presumed slaughterhouse. PETA calls Adam’s portrayal a “convincing” depiction of the butchery associated with the meat industry. Their only hang-up? They think Maroon 5’s front man didn’t go far enough, PETA spokesman Ben Williamson explains.

“Actually, we think Adam does a very convincing job of making slaughterers look deranged… If anything, the video doesn’t go far enough in showing the bloody horror of the meat industry and the misery that animals endure before their carcasses end up on a meat hook or butcher’s chopping block… We’re all ‘Animals,’ but anyone upset by the bloody scenes in the video had better opt out of real life violence by choosing to be a compassionate, vegan animal!”

Clearly, PETA is viewing the video through its own “animal rights” lenses and not the “glamorization of violence against women” angle that many anti-rape groups have taken. As reported by Inquisitr, “Animals” has been blasted by sexual assault support groups including The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

In a statement released on RAINN’s web site following the release of the video, the organization slams Levine and Maroon 5 as a “dangerous depiction of a stalker’s fantasy.”

The statement from RAINN continues, “The trivialization of these serious crimes, like stalking, should have no place in the entertainment industry.”

The irony of it all is that Levine chose his model wife Behati Prinsloo to portray the beautiful object of Adam’s character’s affection. And while no one is arguing that violence against women is wrong, there are some in the entertainment industry recently who have made a case that the fine line between stalking and courtship has become gray.

Controversial right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh for example, recently complained that the Ohio State Student Conduct Policy On Sexual Violence is unfair towards men on a recent broadcast of his syndicated radio show. Limbaugh claimed that the “reality is that boys chase girls” and that “most women actually are intrigued by sexual objectification.”

In the end, this may not have been the kind of support Adam Levine and Maroon 5 were looking for when they made the video for “Animals.”