Like many celebrities, former comedian Ellen DeGeneres — known simply as “Ellen” to people who thrill to daytime television — has a line of merchandise with her name on it. Her imaginatively-named “ED” brand includes a range of clothing and accessories, to which she has recently added footwear, including a $250 pair of leather boots.^[1]

Trouble is, Ellen has widely advertised herself as a devoted vegan — defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who does not eat any food that comes from animals and who often also does not use animal products (such as leather).” Oops. For example, she has promoted the vegan lifestyle on a website called “Going Vegan with Ellen,”^[2] and has a new vegan restaurant in the works, serving the meat-free denizens of North Hollywood (a.k.a. “The Valley”).^[3]

News of the leather boots became public after the recent announcement that the famous Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman had teamed up with Ellen to sell her brand. The outcry from vegan-type animal lovers was prompt. The Global Conservation Group, for example, released a letter denouncing Ellen for crawling into bed with the leather industry, which skins animals alive so that consumers can wear their hide. The group also posted a petition imploring Ellen to “cut out leather from your new shoe line.”^[4]

A sampling of reader comments on the petition gives a sense of the public outrage. Doris Muller from Illinois captured the essence of the matter by commenting, “Really Ellen?? What a hypocrite!” Kathryn Comshaw-Arnold of Ohio chimed in succinctly with: “Shame on you!” And Rieni Otten from France pulled no punches, flatly stating that “Ellen Degeneres is a money whore!”^[4]

TV journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell used Facebook to lash out: “Ellen, you still have time to change your mind. You had to have known – with your very public statement of veganism – that you would be called out for jumping to the dark side. You still have time to redeem yourself. FIX IT!”^[1]

Notably silent, however, is the radical activist group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which has not issued a public comment as of this writing.^[1] PETA has heaped swooning praise on Ellen in the past, and a recent blog entry gushes, “It’s no secret that we are huge fans of Ellen DeGeneres here at PETA (she was previously named our Woman of the Year), and she continues to wow us with her awesomeness.”^[5]

Ellen is no doubt aware that her awesomeness is in jeopardy, and appears to be in damage control mode, considering that the boots have been quietly removed from her website. However, they are still for sale on the Bergdorf Goodman website, so it is yet to be seen whether or not Ellen will pull the offensive leather off the market altogether. If she doesn’t, her restaurateur partner Chrissie Hynde, the militant vegan rock star, might have to kick her butt.

Read more celebrity hypocrisy at AlternativeNews.com

Sources:

[1] ecorazzi.com

[2] mnn.com

[3] ecorazzi.com

[4] Change.org

[5] PETA.org