PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has called for a criminal investigation into the welfare of animals used in Jackass Forever stunts.
In a letter written to prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo County, PETA claims that Jackass Forever likely broke state animal protection laws during a number of its stunts, according to Deadline.
These include a scene in which honeybees sting Steve-O’s penis, killing many of them in the process, and another in which a scorpion is put in someone’s mouth.
Other scenes include a turtle being provoked into biting an actor’s testicles and a snake biting someone’s nose.
The film’s star, Johnny Knoxville, also revealed that he suffered brain damage following a stunt with a bull in the film. Knoxville, who makes his final Jackass appearance in the film, said a stunt where he’s knocked into the air by a bull left him with severe injuries, including a broken wrist, broken ribs and a concussion that resulted in a brain haemorrhage.
While the rest of the world wants to save the bees, @steveo is performing deadly “stunts” in #JackassForever.
Fall on your head too many times doing stupid stunts & forget your values, Steve-O? Putting a species so critical to our ecosystem at risk is desperate & mean. pic.twitter.com/XohEGgQaIO— PETA (@peta) February 5, 2022
PETA’s letter, from SVP Lisa Lange, reads: “If Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville want to make a career out of nasty little boy fantasies, they’re entitled to, as long as they don’t stress, harm, poke, prod, scare, or bother animals who are used as living props for their idiocy.
“PETA is reminding city and county prosecutors that no one is above the law and that while the rest of the world wants to save bees and recognises animals as sentient individuals, these jackasses exploit and abuse them for fun.”
Reviewing Jackass Forever, NME wrote: “There’s a kindness and companionship – and freedom – to Jackass Forever that makes for 90 minutes of pure joy. Remember joy?”
Elsewhere, PETA has criticised Kanye West and The Game for using an image of a skinned monkey to promote their collaborative new track ‘Eazy’.
Speaking to Billboard, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said: “The photo is reminiscent of the monkeys PETA has found, sometimes heads, sometimes hands, sometimes the whole body, in meat markets around the world and it makes it clear that when you remove the fur you can’t miss that there’s a person in there, that they are fellow primates, and do not belong to us to abuse for any purpose – not in laboratories, roadside zoos, movies, or meat markets.”
Back in December, Billie Eilish was named as PETA’s Person Of The Year for 2021.
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