She uses her voice not just to make great music, but to inspire great change. And her efforts are making people stand up and take notice.
Billie Eilish has been named PETA’s 2021 Person Of The Year. The animal welfare nonprofit made the announcement on December 1 (Wednesday):
“For never staying silent about animal protection and for actively working to help animals – from developing leather-free footwear and promoting vegan foods to pushing designers such as Oscar de la Renta to dump fur – Billie Elish is PETA’s 2021 Person of the Year.
PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk said in an official statement:
“Billie Eilish is making sure that the party’s over for meaty, milky meals as well as for leather, fur, and silk.
PETA is happier than ever to celebrate her for seizing every opportunity to point out that vegan fashion and foods are kinder to animals and the planet we share with them.”
Billie’s recent endeavors in fashion and beauty were cited by PETA as among the reasons for giving her the award:
- She partnered with Oscar de la Renta on a custom vegan silk-free gown for the Met Gala on the condition that the brand ban fur products in their future clothing lines, to which the brand agreed
- She was the youngest chair ever at the 2021 Met Gala and for the first time, vegan meals were exclusively served at the event
- She released her first perfume which contains no animal-derived ingredients and isn’t tested on animals
- She launched an Air Jordan shoe collection with Nike – sneakers that are “100% vegan leather with over 20% recycled material”
Billie also recently encouraged her followers to skip turkey on Thanksgiving:
“Turkeys are some of the most gentle creatures in the world. I learned about the dairy industry and the meat industry… I just can’t go on in my life knowing what’s going on in the animal wolf and not doing anything about it.”
The 19-year-old pop star has been vegan since she was 12 and has been very vocal in her support of animal rights. She is the youngest person to receive the annual award. Previous awardees include Pamela Anderson, Joaquin Phoenix, and Lewis Hamilton, among others.
Earlier this year, she was also one of 20 stars who received PETA’s 2021 Most Beautiful Vegan honor, alongside fellow musicians Lizzo, Chloe and Halle Bailey, Anderson .Paak, and Lenny Kravitz.
