Leonardo DiCaprio Slammed by PETA Over 'Wolf of Wall Street' Monkey Business - TheWrap

Animal-rights group says Leo “should know better” than to work with ape actors

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals isn’t monkeying around with Leonardo DiCaprio.

The animal rights organization is taking aim at the actor with a new ad campaign slamming him for appearing in a scene with a chimpanzee in his upcoming film “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

See video: Watch Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Huge Inspiration’ For ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Performance^[1]

PETA’s campaign includes a graphic video detailing the lives of ape “actors,” as well as an online petition^[2] urging DiCaprio to never work with great apes again.

According to the organization, during the film DiCaprio drags a chimpanzee named Chance through a bustling office party. PETA claims that the chimp was provided by a member of the Rosaire family, which “is notorious for operating a traveling circus that forces chimpanzees to perform cruel and unnatural acts.”

Also read: Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio Top IMDb’s 2013 Most Popular Stars List^[3]

“Someone as committed to environmental concerns as Leonardo DiCaprio should know better than to support the well-documented cruelty involved in using great apes for entertainment,” PETA primatologist Julia Gallucci said. “PETA hopes the next time Leo receives a script with an ape ‘actor’ in it, he’ll remember that these sensitive animals are stolen from their mothers at birth and subjected to physical abuse — and he’ll demand a rewrite.”

So far, PETA has taken no issue with the fact that wolves are being defamed by the film by associating them with the stock market.

References

1. ^{^} Watch Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘Huge Inspiration’ For ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Performance (www.thewrap.com)


2. ^{^} an online petition (secure.peta.org)


3. ^{^} Jennifer Lawrence, Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio Top IMDb’s 2013 Most Popular Stars List (www.thewrap.com)