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Oprah Winfrey named PETA's 'Person of the Year'
Dec. 19, 2008, 8:26 PM EST
CHICAGO (AP) -- Animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has named Oprah Winfrey its "Person of the Year."PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk says Friday that Winfrey has used her "powerful voice to defend those without one."
Norfolk, Va.-based PETA says the group will send Winfrey an award plaque and a letter of appreciation.
Winfrey's Chicago-based Harpo Productions says the talk show host is on hiatus and not available for comment.
Previous winners of the PETA award include U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia in 2007 and the founders of the San Francisco-based cleaning product company Method in 2006.
I received this email with the suggestion that as one of our departed circus producers said, "Now she is not our friend." It made me wonder, why don't we have Celebrities who will champion our cause? I wonder if it has anything to do with what we have addressed below. I wonder if validity is an issue. We used to have them, we had movies. What happened, did they catch on? You would think with a World Wide respected, as we are told, deal like Monte Carlo and their connections it would be know problem. I don't think the major mob figures that by blocks of tickets for the Festival should be an issue.(You don't believe me, let's wait for someone high up to dispute that. Most nationality's that have performed there can point out the Capos from their country.) Where are our Champions???? Let's work on getting some, instead of wasting time discrediting theirs. OABA should be a major source given the celebrities that have appeared at the big E, and the connection to OABA to Monte Carlo to ECA. A circus performer/animal trainer is married to an actress. An actress owns a circus in Italy, can't her friend help? Italy is in trouble right now, as we learned a few days ago. What gives, why can't we get the celebrity endorsement. Why is or fight not as worthy. Advertising, self promoting paper/practice's aside.
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i think the main reason we have no celebrity spokesmen is that nobody asks. the biggest stars visit circuses with their kids, big stars hosted the ringling specials. superstars aren't afraid of controversy if its something they believe in -- and most love the circus. as for oprah, i think we should note that she "wasn't available for comment." she didn't turn the award down, but neither did she issue a statement about how honored she was, etc. anyone can name anybody to their own personal list. we could name pam anderson circus fan of the year. that doesn't mean she'd thank us and she would probably refuse to accept the award -- but she couldn't stop one of our organizations from naming her. oprah is another story. my take is that she is too smart to get into the middle of all this. it's too late now to ask chuck heston or paul newman to be our spokesman -- but either might well have said yes. there are any numbers of superstars who might say yes. we just have to ask.
Henry named it. In point of fact this is a pretty good illustration of how PETA works. Oprah, to the best of my knowledge is not an outspoken advocate for AR. BUT in naming her PETA grabs headlines. Sen. Robert Byrd is a conservative Democrat who hefted many a shotgun before he got too damned old. It's important to read between the lines when PETA speaks. The very fact that HARPO offered a "no comment" rather than talking about Oprah's love for furry creatures speaks volumes. Of course there are plenty of celebs who are indeed affiliated with PETA, but they don't grab the same headlines.
As for "pro-circus" celebs, it's easier to find somebody to endorse an ideology (AR) than it is to find somebody to endorse an industry. That doesn't mean that there are celebs who enjoy the circus, or taking their children to the circus. And maybe you could find a celeb willing to endorse a particular show. If you really want a Hollywood versus Hollywood list, the real issue isn't animals training, it's the use of animals in biomedical research that's the hot button issue.
Oprah did 2 shows: one on Puppy Mills and the other on Pig & chicken farming regarding California's Prop 2. As far as I know she has not been involved with any anti circus Peta stuff.
She tried a vegan diet for 7 days and now she is Peta's person of the year. It's just Peta trying to tag onto a big celebrity for their own purposes.
www.peta.org/feat-personofyear-08.asp
I have sat back, but now I will reiterate. This was sent by a concerned fan who offered the producer quote as well as the thought that it made his day suddenly unhappy, and that we should accept she is full of it, and boycott any Oprah deals.
I posted it and asked where are our celebrities, or did it just seem easier to discredit there celebrities. Look what has happened.
Wade
Anonymous,
In regards to not being involved with any anti circus stuff, the fan who sent this suggests now there will be trouble with the City of Chicago elephant deal that is now on the table/in the works. I have a hard time following stuff like this, I have to be honest. By the time the name calling stops, I don't know who is doing what. That is a fact.
Wade
i don't know what kind of play the oprah story got nationally, but here in norfolk, where peta is headquartered, the virginian pilot recognized it for what it was and ran about 3 or 4 paragraphs. i suspect that's more than would have been run if not for the local peta tie-in. i think the media is more aware of how peta works.
they get attention here by buying lots of outdoor advertising (billboards) rather than news space.
Henry,
You are going to love this because, I know how you feel about the old day's of circus celebrities, and I think the world does to. The rodeo in addition to using recording star, wife of Ty Murray Jewel, uses past participants like, Jim Shoulders, Tuff Heddom, Donnie Gay, Larry Mahan, and others who have archived great things. Not everybody, not Smokey Johnson, not Bronc Walsh, but hero's who have achieved legitimate fame. The rodeo fans are pretty demanding and they aren't just happy with a dusty arena and some cows and horses. The WWE also uses, celebrity participants, former and present. The equine industry has the same thing. The zoo world has Jack Hanna which is a stretch, but they are using he and others. Where are our recognizable personalities?
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