Tuesday, May 14, 2024

‘Babe’ star James Cromwell superglues hand to Starbucks counter over vegan milk upcharge



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Fair warning: This one will get a bit sticky.

Incensed by the “senseless upcharge” at Starbucks for nondairy milk, “Succession” and “Babe” actor James Cromwell and different members of PETA, the place he serves as an honorary director, staged a protest Tuesday at a Midtown Manhattan location of the espresso chain.

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If anybody needed him to go away, they have been out of luck as he — together with one other protester — superglued his hand to the counter in what can finest be described as a “glue-in.” PETA live-streamed the protest, which shortly started trending on social media, the place the stunt was met with a menagerie of reward and (largely “Babe”) jokes.

“More than 13,000 customers have asked you,” Cromwell says from the counter. “Now we’re asking: Will you stop charging more for vegan milk? When will you stop raking in huge profits while customers, animals and the environment suffer?”

“Cows produce milk for the same reason humans do: to nourish their young. But in the dairy industry, they give birth and their babies are taken from them almost immediately so that their milk can be sold. Mother cows cry for their infants for days,” provides Cromwell, clad in a black T-shirt emblazoned with the phrases “Free the animals” and studying from a bit of paper held in his free hand. “They suffer no less than human mothers would.”

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“Succession” actor James Cromwell superglued himself to a Starbucks counter in New York City on May 10 to protest a “senseless upcharge” for nondairy milk. (Video: PETA via Storyful)

A Rhodes scholar barista and the struggle to unionize Starbucks

As he reads his statement, the masked baristas behind him generally appear to continue working as if there isn’t a 6-foot-7 Oscar-nominated actor attached to the counter — and later they continue to as he leads the other protesters in chanting, “Save the planet, save the cows. Stop this vegan upcharge now.”

Eventually, the police arrive and tell customers the Starbucks is closed — though they can still pick up any outstanding orders. Cromwell and the other glued protester detach their hands from the counter and leave. “They were about to be arrested,” one protester explains in the video.

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“We respect our customers’ rights to respectfully voice their opinions so long as it does not disrupt our store operations,” a Starbucks spokesperson stated in a press release. “Customers can customize any beverage on the menu with a nondairy milk, including soy, coconut, almond and oat for an additional cost (similar to other beverage customizations such as an additional espresso shot or syrup). Pricing varies market by market.”

PETA has been urging Starbucks to reverse its policy for years. In a statement on its website, the organization notes that several other chains, including Wawa, Panera Bread and Philz Coffee, don’t upcharge for nondairy milk.

“More people than ever before are ditching dairy and going vegan to help animals, save the environment, and improve their own health,” PETA stated in a press release. “It’s time that Starbucks stopped charging customers extra for choosing dairy-free milks!”

Cromwell just isn’t the one superstar battling the added charge for lightening a latte with coconut, soy, oat and almond milk. Sir Paul McCartney lately wrote a letter to Starbucks’s CEO, saying partially, “My friends at PETA are campaigning for this. I sincerely hope that for the future of the planet and animal welfare you are able to implement this policy,” in accordance to PETA. Notably, McCartney didn’t take part within the glue-in. (In equity, a handful of adhesive may make it more durable to play “Hey Jude.”)

Cromwell has not but responded to The Washington Post’s request for remark.

While gluing your self to a floor — or, actually, to something — used to be an accident, it has currently develop into a preferred technique of protest. After news broke that Glen Taylor, the bulk proprietor of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, was compelled to kill greater than 5 million chickens on his farm to cease the unfold of an avian flu outbreak, animal rights activist Alicia Santurio tried to glue herself to the court docket throughout a play-in sport in April.

How did ‘Glue Girl’ carry her protest onto an NBA court docket? Privilege.

Cromwell could also be finest often known as an actor, however he has a protracted historical past of activism, relationship again to his involvement within the U.S. civil rights motion. As CNN reported in 2004, “Cromwell, a self-described ‘bourgeois white boy,’ joined the radical Black Panther Party by becoming a member of ‘The Committee to Defend the Panthers.’ ”

He took up animal rights as a trigger within the Seventies after being horrified by a go to to a Texas stockyard and have become vegan after taking pictures “Babe,” a 1995 Oscar-nominated film about an orphaned pig attempting to discover his place on the farm.

On the movie, he was “working with a lot of animals and animal trainers. I cared about their welfare and then of course you have lunch and it’s all there in front of you, and I thought I should go the whole hog, so to speak,” Cromwell instructed Take Part in 2011. “So I made that decision and kept that during the shooting.”

Inevitably, social media quickly crammed with jokes in regards to the glue-in, most referencing his varied roles.

Amy Brown tweeted that “all the succession actors are their characters in real life. jeremy strong IS kendall roy. james cromwell IS leaving cousin greg’s inheritance to greenpeace.”

“Like everything else James Cromwell is in, I’d watch this,” Atlantic journalist Yair Rosenberg tweeted.

One person couldn’t assist however consider the tip of “Babe,” tweeting, “That’ll glue, pig … that’ll glue.”





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