Director James Cameron was slammed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) over his joke about dolphins while promoting his latest film, Avatar: The Way of Water.
During a press conference in Japan, Cameron and others watched as a dolphin performed stunts with a stuntman in the water while promotional clips from Avatar: The Way of Water played on a screen behind him.
“I love these animals. I love their intelligence. I love their sociability, their ability to connect with us and to interact with us and learn from us,” the director said of the dolphins, before adding, “And I’m sure everybody asked their permission to be in the show.”
PETA responded to Cameron’s comments by sharing a video of the event and tweeting, “Honestly, @JimCameron? No, no one asked the dolphin’s permission to be in the show.”
In the caption of the video, PETA wrote, “Avatar: The Way of Water is about living harmoniously with nature, so why is James Cameron launching it by watching exploited animals at a cruel marine park in Japan?! This is the opposite of appreciating nature.”
“Dolphins should NEVER be ridden, forced to perform, or have their faces stood on,” PETA added.
Animal rights activist Ric O’Barry also attacked the director over the incident, writing on Instagram that Cameron was once his “hero,” but “that was then, this is now.”
“Heartbroken,” O’Barry wrote. “[James Cameron] was my hero. I was actually star struck when he reached out to shake my hand as we walked the red carpet towards to stage of the iconic Kodak Theater to pick up the Oscar. That was ten years ago.”
“That was then. This is now,” he continued. “A promotional video for the new Avatar movie stopped me in my tracks. I just caught the end of the video where the performing dolphins did their final trick.”
“And now I’m watching my hero applaud the pathetic dolphin show he just participated in and apparently enjoyed — why else would one applaud? I have no doubt the dolphins have a connection to the bloody cove, in Taiji, Japan. This video broke my heart,” O’Barry added.
“I agree with Ric absolutely heartbreaking to watch,” the top liked commenter wrote in response to O’Barry’s post, also expressing his dismay.
“He introduces the dolphin show, applauds the dolphins as they are ridden like surf boards, the dolphins are literally stood on and abused, he then says to the audience that the dolphins had a choice to be there,” he added.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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