00:00Eat your heart out, John Legend, a.k.a. People's Sexiest Man of the Year, because Joker star Joaquin Phoenix is PETA's Person of the Year.
00:09Joaquin Phoenix has been named by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as its 2019 Person of the Year.
00:15A vegan since the age of three, Phoenix has been a longtime supporter of the animal rights organization.
00:20The three-time Oscar nominee recently appeared on PETA's We Are All Animals billboards as he promoted legislation to ban traveling wild animal circuses.
00:30Phoenix also executive produced The Animal People, a documentary about animal rights activists coming up against powerful industry interests.
00:38His partnership with PETA includes campaigns against dog leather, exotic skins fishing, and the turkey industry.
00:45Joaquin Phoenix never misses an opportunity to turn the spotlight away from himself and onto animals' plight and to set a great example of walking the vegan walk.
00:53PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement,
00:56Phoenix joins earlier PETA Person of the Year winners like Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey, and Angelica Houston,
01:02and celebrities like Olivia Munn, Ava Mendez, and Alicia Silverstone, who have worked with PETA to create awareness of animal cruelty in fashion.
01:11Clearly, the Joker knows that animal cruelty is no laughing matter.
01:15For more, check out THR.com, and for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Paul Costabile.
Be the first to comment