by “Over 13,000 customers have asked you,” says Cromwell from the counter. “Now we are asking: Will they stop charging more for vegan milk? When will you stop making 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 deliver and take their babies almost immediately so their milk can be sold. Cow mothers cry for their calves for days,” adds Cromwell, dressed in a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Free the Animals” and reading from a piece of paper he holds in his free hand. “They suffer no less than human mothers.”
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 glued to the counter, then carry on as he leads the other protesters in chanting. , “Save the planet, save the cows. Stop this vegan surcharge now.”
Eventually, the police arrive and tell customers that Starbucks is closed, though they can still pick up any pending orders. Cromwell and the other stuck protester take their hands off the counter and leave. “They were about to be arrested,” a protester explains in the video.
“We respect the rights of our customers to respectfully express their opinions as long as it does not disrupt our store operations,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement. “Customers can customize any beverage on the menu with a non-dairy milk, including soy, coconut, almond, and oatmeal for an additional cost (similar to other beverage customizations, such as an espresso or additional syrup). Prices vary 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, do not overcharge for non-dairy milk.
“More people than ever are ditching dairy and going vegan to help animals, save the environment, and improve their own health,” PETA said in a statement. “It’s time for Starbucks to stop charging customers extra for choosing dairy-free milks!”
Cromwell isn’t the only celebrity fighting the extra fee for lightening up a latte with coconut, soy, oatmeal and almond milk. Sir Paul McCartney recently wrote a letter to the CEO of Starbucks, saying in part: “My friends at PETA are campaigning for this. I sincerely hope that for the future of the planet and animal welfare, they can implement this policy,” according to PETA. Notably, McCartney was not involved in the glue. (To be fair, a handful of glue might make “Hey Jude” harder to play.)
Cromwell has not yet responded to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
While sticking to a surface, or really anything, used to be an accident, lately it has become a popular means of protest. After news broke that Glen Taylor, the majority owner of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, was forced to kill more than 5 million chickens on his farm to stop the spread of an outbreak of bird flu, the Animal rights activist Alicia Santurio tried to stick to court. during a play-in game in April.
Cromwell may be best known as an actor, but he has a long history of activism, dating back to his involvement in the US civil rights movement. 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 for the Defense of the Panthers’. ”
He took up the cause of animal rights in the 1970s after being horrified by a visit to a Texas animal pen and became a vegan after filming “Babe,” a 1995 Oscar-nominated film about an orphaned pig. trying to find his place on the farm.
In the movie, he was “working with a lot of animals and animal trainers. I was concerned about his well-being and then of course you have lunch and everything is in front of you, and I thought I should do my best, so to speak,” Cromwell told Take Part in 2011. “So I made that decision and stuck with it. during the shooting.”
Inevitably, social media was soon abuzz with glue jokes, most referencing its various roles.
Amy Brown tweeted that “all the actors in the succession 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 into, I would watch this,” Atlantic journalist Yair Rosenberg. tweeted.
One user couldn’t help but think about the ending of “Babe”, tweeting“That’s going to hit, pig… that’s going to hit.”
