Is PETA using Justin Bieber for publicity? Although the 22-year-old superstar was only a guest at a party where he gently petted a leashed tiger and posed for photos, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization has slammed the singer.
PETA is claiming the tiger at the party was obtained from the Bowmanville Zoo in Toronto, Canada, where it was allegedly whipped and abused by the zoo owner, Michael Hackenberger, who was charged with animal cruelty-related counts in April.
While it’s unclear whether PETA’s allegation about the zoo sourcing for the tiger at the party is correct and whether it’s the same animal previously allegedly abused by Hackenberger, the question is: How would Justin Bieber , who was merely a guest, know any of that either way?
. @justinbieber gets night at the opera at glitzy fundraiser held in Toronto’s Bridle Path https://t.co/VHRnj6C9B1 pic.twitter.com/HoTWiSJ01g
— TorontoStar (@TorontoStar) May 2, 2016
The Toronto Star reports the event was hosted and thrown by philanthropists Andy Curnew and Dr. Rita Kilislian at their private Toronto residence. The couple put on the fundraiser on Saturday, April 30 for a local opera company and also celebrated Curnew’s birthday and Jeremy Bieber’s (a.k.a. Justin’s father) engagement to Chelsea Rebelo.
The newspaper revealed guests included writer Barbara Amiel, Ontario Arts Council members, and the former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis. During the artsy soiree, opera singers, acrobats, and fire jugglers performed, costumed superhero characters added a fun factor, and Rodin sculptures and Warhol prints were displayed.
PETA , U.S. , U.K. , and the non-Canadian press are currently reporting the event was solely an engagement party when it was also an arts fundraiser and birthday bash. This omission seems intended to ramp up focus on Justin and Jeremy Bieber for clickbait headlines. Dr. Kilislian and Curnew’s fundraising efforts pulled in $25,000 for the Opera Atelier company.
Peterborough couple donate $25K to @operaatelier at Toronto party with @justinbieber https://t.co/0LRJEu2hp4 pic.twitter.com/lhJ4MvjUpz
— PeterboroughExaminer (@PtboExaminer) May 2, 2016
Amazing Art Evening w hosts Dr. Rita Kilislian &Andy Curnew @MWekerle @meghanjlindsay @OlivierLaquerre @tenor_chris pic.twitter.com/aamfE9EJ2r
— Opera Atelier (@OperaAtelier) May 1, 2016
Thanks Dr. Rita Kilislian & Andy Curnew for your gift. A thrill to perform for @JeremyBieber @MWekerle @justinbieber pic.twitter.com/lqv4XyfJxv
— Opera Atelier (@OperaAtelier) May 1, 2016
All of which makes PETA’s blasting of the singer in an article posted on their site and a series of tweets on Sunday arguably exploitative, given that Justin was a only guest at the party and the organization has not gone after other guests who posed with the tiger.
In other photos and visuals which surfaced, the Biebs was seen standing next to a camel and cuddling a lion cub. While PETA states it views anyone posing in pics with captive animals — presumably that also includes pets — as “ supporting animal suffering ,” others may see things differently and think Bieber was simply showing affection to the animals at the party in this particular instance.
PETA says that it has sent a letter to Justin telling him that the tiger “appears” to have come from Bowmanville Zoo, adding that it advised people not to pose for “dangerous big-cat photo ops” and asking the singer “to not promote these types of abusive outfits.” The Biebs has yet to respond to PETA’s comments.
In the past, PETA came under fire after it was widely reported that the organization euthanized over 2,000 puppies and kittens at the shelter located at its Virginia headquarters , in addition to their shock-tactic targeting of certain celebrities.
While Justin Bieber is being ripped by PETA for posing for a photo with a tiger (which he later posted on Instagram), the organization is curiously silent about Beyoncé wearing a luxe fur coat from the Hood By Air label in promo ads and the “Don’t Hurt Yourself” segment of her new visual album, Lemonade .
According to PETA, approximately 50 million animals raised on fur farms around the world will be violently killed for their pelts for use in fashion each year. Methods used to kill animals for their fur include gassing, electrocuting animals anally and genitally to limit damage to the fur, steel-jaw traps, and live skinning. Eighty-five percent of the fur industry’s skins is derived from animals kept captive on fur factory farms in typically severely crowded, squalid wire cages.
[Photo by George Pimentel/Getty Images]