Aretha Franklin sang at the annual Rockefeller Center tree-lighting ceremony last night. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who got chills from her appearance—but not because of her singing … oh, no. My skin crawled because the Queen of Soul Cold wore this:

You may recall that Franklin was voted PETA's Fugliest Fur Hag in 2008. The hideousness she wore last night suggests that the face of fur wants to lock in first place for the upcoming 2009 vote. Can one of her "people" please explain to her—very slowly so she's sure to comprehend—that she does not want to be voted the world's most heinous person again? Pretty please?

Posted by Karin Bennett

Yesterday, we broke the news that France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, had written to PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews to assure him that although she wore fur back in her modeling days, she now refuses to wear even the smallest bits of fur.

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes / CC

Now, America's first lady, the fabulously fashionable Michelle Obama, has also declared via her press secretary that she, too, is fur-free. Here's the official statement: "Mrs. Obama does not wear fur."

Talk about some high-class first ladies!

Posted by Karin Bennett

After TMZ posted documents last week showing that Aretha Franklin is facing foreclosure, the story has been reported everywhere. Well, despite the fact that we've had the occasional run-in with the Queen of Soul, we're willing to bury the hatchet and even help her out of her recent financial troubles by paying her $19,000 ... provided that she agrees to stop wearing fur and donate her unwanted furs to PETA as Mariah Carey and Kim Cattrall have done.

You can read PETA's letter to Aretha below, and, as always, those lightning-quick reporters over at TMZ are first on the scene with the full story.

One of our most popular anti-fur slogans here at PETA is “Fur is worn by beautiful animals and ugly people”. And we’ve got some great ads to back it up. But the pictures that have been circulating of Aretha Franklin at the Grammy awards last week don’t even really need the tagline to drive that point home. She looks like a walrus in a cat costume. Except, like, nowhere near as cute as that sounds.

Here’s the note that PETA VP Dan Mathews sent to Aretha, who got all in a tizzy yesterday about the fact that Beyonce called Tina Turner “the Queen” and not her.

Dear Aretha-

Music lovers may think of you as a "queen," but to animal lovers, you are a court jester. I'm sorry, Aretha, but your furs make you look like a clown. Why not shed the old-fashioned look that adds pounds to your frame and detracts from your beautiful voice? Won't you donate your furs to the poor as "queen of compassion," Mariah Carey, did? You'll get a tax credit for the donation, and we at PETA will all sing your praises.

Dan Mathews
VP, PETA