Joaquin Phoenix Reveals Why He Won’t Wear a Suit – Unless It’s Vegan

For Immediate Release:
13 December 2016

Contact:
Olivia Jordan +44 (0) 20 7837 6327, ext 229; [email protected]

JOAQUIN PHOENIX REVEALS WHY HE WON’T WEAR A SUIT – UNLESS IT’S VEGAN

Award-Winning Actor Speaks Out Against the Cruelty of the Wool Industry in New PETA Campaign

London – This winter, Joaquin Phoenix won’t be wearing wool, as he proclaims in a new campaign for PETA that “cruelty doesn’t suit me”. He encourages, “Please leave wool out of your wardrobe.“. The actor appears alongside rescued sheep and is wearing a vegan suit by Brave GentleMan, PETA Menswear Brand of the Year. The ad is debuting after a landmark case this week in which six wool industry workers were charged with cruelty to animals for the first time in history after a PETA exposé documented shearers beating scared sheep in the face with electric clippers in Australia.

Phoenix is notoriously opposed to giving interviews and is rarely spotted wearing a suit – but in an exclusive video with PETA shot on location at The Gentle Barn sanctuary, he reveals his motivation for doing both.: “When PETA [US] sent me that video of this undercover investigation of what happened in these shearing farms, that was really eye-opening”, he says after hand-feeding a sheep. “I had that rationalization, ‘Well, it’s something that is just taken off them, and there’s not a lot of abuse.'” But, he continues, “After seeing this footage, it’s pretty undeniable that … it’s impossible to do that in a humane way. And so, it seems that the only option is to not use wool. That’s become abundantly clear”.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – has revealed in its exposés of the international wool industry that gentle sheep are punched in the face, jabbed with electric clippers, slammed to the floor, and stamped on by impatient workers. As Phoenix mentions in his interview, shearers are often paid by volume, not by the hour, which encourages fast, violent work that can lead to gaping wounds on sheep’s bodies. The wounds are then stitched closed – without giving the animals any painkillers.

Phoenix is part of a long list of celebrities – including Eva Mendes, Alicia Silverstone, Mark Ronson, Pamela Anderson, Iggy Pop, and many more – who have teamed up with PETA and its international affiliates to promote kinder wardrobe choices.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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