This ad, along with details on a hotline that whistleblowers who witness abuse on movie sets can call, appeared in Variety magazine this week

A while back a whistleblower from the set of Speed Racer reported that one of the chimpanzees used to play Speed Racer’s sidekick, Chim Chim, was beaten during filming and bit a human actor. The Speed Racer movie is coming out next week, and while the industry’s fleeting attention is attuned to the issue of animal abuse in Hollywood—especially after a bear used in the recent Will Ferrell movie attacked and killed his trainer—we figured now was the perfect time to encourage Hollywood insiders to speak up when they see abuse. Because nobody else is doing it right now.

A full-page ad prominently placed in yesterday's Variety magazine calls on Hollywood insiders who witness or suspect animal abuse in the production of a movie to immediately report the incident to PETA via a special hotline. Here’s what PETA Director Debbie Leahy told the media:

"Beating and shocking great apes who are used as 'actors' is the rule—not the exception. We're urging anyone involved in any facet of film production who has witnessed or suspects animal abuse to report it to PETA immediately."

The story’s been making its way around the blogosphere today. There’s a good write-up on Deadline Hollywood Daily, and there’s tons more info on our campaign to prevent animals from being abused behind the scenes in movies and on TV on our cleverly titled “No More Monkey Business” website.

P.S. Check out the sweet article about the issue on HuffPo.

P.P.S. You can tell Warner Bros. that you’re boycotting their Speed Racer movie through this webform.

In early February, after we were alerted to the fact that Will Ferrell's latest movie, Semi-Pro, was to feature scenes in which Will (or, more likely, a stunt double) wrestled a live bear, PETA sent a letter to his agents letting them know about the very real cruelty that goes on behind the scenes any time an "animal actor" is trawled out for a stunt in a movie. The disturbing news that the very same bear who was used in the movie attacked and killed his trainer yesterday has put the whole thing in a new light.

It's pretty rare that people catch a glimpse of the way the animals they see in TV shows or movies are really treated (as you might imagine, they're not natural actors — they're often beaten to perform). But we're hoping that this incident, sad as it is, will encourage Hollywood actors to take a stand against performing with animals, who want to be movie stars about as much as they want to be stuck in a cage for the rest of their lives (which is pretty much the standard accommodation for a great many of the animals who are used by Hollywood). The only really surprising thing about yesterday's tragic bear attack is that it didn't happen sooner.

We're asking Will Ferrell to pledge never to act with wild animals again. I'll let you know if he gets back to us. In the meantime, you can read our letter here.

comicbookmovie/Creative Commons

So the Wachowski Brothers (the geniuses behind The Matrix) have been holed up for a while working on a live action version of the '60s cult cartoon Speed Racer. Sounds pretty awesome, except that they've made the decision to use a real chimpanzee to portray Speed Racer's simian friend Chim Chim. And, as always when a primate is used in filming, it is an absolute guarantee that there's behind-the-scenes abuse—even when those half-awake film enthusiasts at the American Humane Association are on the job. The fact is that while the original, animated Chim Chim never had any trouble mugging for the camera, the new guy on the job can think of about a million things that he'd rather be doing than performing for the Wachowski brothers. For most chimpanzees used on set, this natural aversion to stardom means that severe beatings, intimidation, and all-round lousy treatment are standard tools of the trade for the trainers who are paid to make them perform. And according to our source on set, the chimp being used for this movie is no exception, which may well explain why he recently deviated from the script and bit a child actor.

ucla/Creative Commons

We've been communicating back and forth with the movie's producer, Joel Silver, asking that he make the humane decision and use animatronics instead of live animal actors. I'll keep you posted on any developments with this one, and you can read more about how that discussion's been going here. Incidentally, my favorite movie blog, I Watch Stuff, also covered the story, which pretty much made my day.

And finally, please click here to learn more and to ask that the Wachowski brothers use animatronics instead of live animals.

Breaking news here folks, and it's been 17 years in the making: In 1989, a video camera caught nightclub entertainer Bobby Berosini beating and punching the orangutans he used in his act at the Stardust. This week, Berosini lost yet another round in the court battle that has been going on ever since.

Instead of just paying PETA's court costs when we won the case the first time round, Berosini was forced by a federal district court to pay more than $250,000 incurred by PETA’s attorneys in trying to locate assets that he and his wife, Joan Berosini, had hidden after the initial legal battle. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that payment order, on top of the more than $400,000 in court costs Berosini had previously paid PETA. The real victory here, though, is for the animals depicted in the video below, which (just in case it wasn't clear from the whole hiding money and trying to manipulate the justice system deal) shows exactly what sort of a person this Berosini guy is.

$250,000 dollars is a hell of a lot of money to have paid, but after watching that video again, I'm not exactly welling up with sympathy for Mr. Berosini's misfortunes. As PETA's president, Ingrid Newkirk puts it,

“There’s a lesson here for any entertainers who still feel that beating animals is acceptable. Berosini kept intelligent apes locked up in steel boxes for years, and he can never pay back the animals for the nightly beating they endured.”