The Sun / CC

We have folks in the office who comb through every celebrity magazine and watch every “Inside Hollywood”-type entertainment show to see (among other things) who’s wearing fur and where they got it from during a given season. And may God bless them for making this noble sacrifice. But the latest report on Beyoncé—who’s been getting an earful from us for years now, including a face-to-face ambush at a restaurant in 2007—is that she’s clean. Not a single sighting of Beyoncé in a fur coat all winter.

So we’re calling a ceasefire. As a goodwill gesture, PETA Senior VP Lisa Lange just sent newlyweds Beyoncé and Jay-Z a luxurious throw from top faux fur maker Fabulous Furs accompanied by the following note:

“From all of us at PETA, we wish you much happiness in your life together. Please accept this faux-fur throw with many good wishes and a hope from us that together, you’ll be a fur-free couple!”

Or, as she told the media, “Celebrities know that the easiest way to keep PETA off their backs is by keeping fur off their backs. Time will tell if Beyoncé is truly committed to being fur-free, but all indications are that she’s become a real ‘dreamgirl’ for fur-bearing animals.” We’re all pretty interested to see how this one pans out. Let’s hope for the best.

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

Pink, being awesome

Pop singer Pink, who is currently my favorite person on the planet, went public with the information in a recent interview with the UK newspaper News of the World. Pink was understandably pissed off about the fact that Beyonce has animals violently killed so she can wear them around town. Here are some choice tidbits:

"I only hope she gets bit on the arse by whatever animal she wears. … People will think it's ok or cool, but it's not."
"Some of the practices are so cruel and as a celebrity you have a responsibility to think about the message you're sending out by wearing fur."

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video of our own recent attempt to reason with Beyonce on the subject. By an odd coincidence, we won a contest to have dinner with Beyonce and her mom, so we took the opportunity to have a little chat with them.