Guest Blogging Glamazon Ari Solomon sends a strong message out to cold hearted Sherri Shepherd letting her know NO true glamorous beauty would be caught dead in the tortured skins of baby animals;
To the producers and stars of The View:
I was appalled and disgusted to see you glorifying and joking about fur on your show Tuesday morning. For over 20 years, animal activists and celebrities from Martha Stewart to Christina Applegate to The Golden Girls have been speaking out and educating the public about the heinous cruelty involved in fur production.
Since you obviously missed all those lessons, let me enlighten you:
It takes 40 minks to make one fur coat like the one Ms. Shepherd wore on the show. These animals are kept in cages so small they literally go insane from running around in circles. Animals that are caught in the wild have their limbs clamped shut in iron traps. They are sometimes left for days bleeding, freezing and starving, often trying to chew off their own limbs, desperately trying to escape. When “fur animals” are slaughtered, they are killed by being vaginally or anally electrocuted. On some farms their heads are simply slammed against concrete floors. All this barbarity is so that their fur doesn’t get damaged. Sometimes it takes two or three electrocutions/head slammings before the animal dies. Even then, some survive and are skinned alive. Isn’t that luxurious, something to laugh about?
If you can’t find it in your icy hearts to feel for minks then imagine 40 Chihuahuas in that situation. Now ask yourself: what is the difference between a cute little dog and a mink with regard to suffering? That’s right, NOTHING.
Shame on you ladies! For sitting behind that panel mindlessly ooohing and ahhhing over the tortured bodies of 40 animals. Your opinions reach millions, and yet there was not one person present to argue the other side — to speak on behalf of the animals who sadly cannot speak for themselves (though I think the tormented shrieks and screams from inside the fur farms speak plenty).
I understand that Ms. Shepherd bought her fur at a charity event, but what kind of charity was shown to the slain animals? If Ms. Shepherd felt compelled to donate money, she could’ve easily done that without walking away with a coat made of cruelty.
Ms. Goldberg embarrassed herself completely when she offensively claimed that all black women grow up dreaming of wearing mink. Maybe she did, but to rope all African-American women in her sadistic childhood fantasies is wrong and borders on racist. There are many compassionate women of color who would not be caught dead in fur. Instead of “taking her cue” from Aretha, perhaps Ms. Goldberg should do so from our First Lady. Michelle Obama proudly states that she will not wear fur. She is a kind and informed woman, and obviously a person of integrity. I dare say she makes a much better role model than an aging diva who makes it a point to promote animal abuse.
I suggest that you dedicate a portion of a future episode to how Ms. Shepherd’s fur coat was made. Allow your audience to see not just the finished product, but the whole bloody and cruel process. I’m sure it would be very harrowing and informative for both your audience and hosts. Perhaps you could have Martha Stewart as a guest and she could show you this PSA she recorded.
There is nothing glamorous about fur — it is cruel and merciless. Fur exists only to inflate the ego of the vain, the ignorant, and the heartless.
Sincerely,
Ari Solomon
Note to the reader: If you’d like to let ABC and The View know your thoughts on this issue, you can do so here: http://abc.go.com/site/contact-us
Additional note: If you insist of the look of fur, check out www.fabulousfurs.com for amazing fakes that look as real as it gets. For those with more of a budget (do you know a real fur can cost up to $600,000!? When there are people starving in the world!) consider a Marc Bouwer couture faux-fur coat. Personally, we’d rather skip promoting this trend all together and rock our absolutely gorgeous Vaute Couture coat – totally animal free and glam, glam, glam!
Ari Solomon is the President and co-creator of the celebrated vegan candle line A Scent of Scandal After graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Ari first worked as an actor in New York and Los Angeles, and later hosted the wildly popular ARI’S HOLLYWOOD UPDATE on Miami’s Y-100FM. Now a prolific activist and writer for animal and human rights, Ari is a columnist for The Huffington Post.