Morrissey has long been an outspoken vegetarian and supporter of animal rights, and now he has put a hefty chunk of change toward the cause. PETA has announced (via London’s Guardian) that he gave the nonprofit £10,000 “to combat the cruelty of foie gras.” That’s almost $15,000. The money will go toward ads criticizing London department store Fortnum & Mason for selling the duck or goose liver meat, which to meet the French legal definition must be prepared by force-feeding the animals.
The stated source of Morrissey’s 10 thousand quid? Let’s just say he may well be choking on his force-fed French delicacy right now. The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” was used to advertise a 2011 U.K. TV special hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, “Christmas Cookalong Live.” According to the Guardian, the broadcaster “is understood” to have paid Morrissey £10,000 for using the song without permission.
In a statement posted by PETA, Morrissey flashed his familiar sharp tongue. “Ramsay may very well stick his head in his microwave when he hears that the money I received from Channel 4 … is being donated to PETA to fight foie gras,” he said in the statement. “Foie gras is so cruelly produced that he’d be against it if he had an ethical bone in his body.” The man behind Meat Is Murder clearly isn’t in favor of meat that’s arguably torture-and-murder, either.
