Gwyneth Paltrow fur ads
'Green' Gwyn a Hypocrite? Star Hawks Fur
August 18, 2008 3:08 PM
She eats a macrobiotic diet. She's married to world-famous vegetarian/Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. She's BFF with green-minded fashion designer Stella McCartney. She donates a portion of the proceeds from her perfume to breast cancer research.
And yet, she stars in a new ad for Italian luxury label Tod's, draped in fox fur and wearing fur-lined boots.
It seems somewhat hypocritical for Gwyneth Paltrow, an actress almost as famous for her Academy-award winning performances as for her activism. To be fair, Paltrow hasn't declared a public stance on fur. While she doesn't often rock it on the red carpet, she donned a lush fur coat for her turn in 2001's "The Royal Tenenbaums." But it's jarring to see a star committed to a green, holistic lifestyle hawking a product so polarizing. And animal rights activists aren't happy with the statement she's made.
"Gwyneth Paltrow won’t be the apple of her daughter’s eye if she flaunts the skins of once beautiful animals rendered into fur. It’s a shocking example to set for a young child, promoting an industry that electrocutes animals, snaps their necks and skins them alive," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Michael McGraw said in an e-mail statement. "We’ve written to her many times, and sent her videos showing how animals are painfully electrocuted, slowly drowned and have their necks snapped for fur but have never received a response. Apparently her beauty really is only skin deep."
Paltrow's representative, Stephen Huvane, declined ABCNews.com's requests for comment. Perhaps it's time for the pelt-wearing star to pipe up?
Sheila Marikar