PETA’s 2022 Person of the Year Is … James Cromwell!

For fearlessly stepping up for animals at every turn and helping PETA achieve major victories for dogs and monkeys in laboratories, speaking out against the live export of pigs from Ireland, and pressuring Starbucks to end its vegan milk upcharge in the US, Succession star James Cromwell is PETA’s 2022 Person of the Year!

In honour of Cromwell’s wonderful contributions to animal rights and because his empathy knows no bounds, PETA US is naming its Los Angeles event space The James Cromwell Empathy Center.

James Cromwell’s Inspiring Activism

Cromwell’s fire for animal rights was sparked decades ago by his role in Babe, which inspired him to go vegan. Now in his 80s, he’s bringing about change and racking up victories with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager.

Notches in his belt include helping to persuade Air France to end its shipments of monkeys to laboratories by folding his 6-foot-7-inch frame into a shipping crate at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Babe star also spoke out for pigs in Ireland, urging the minister for agriculture, food, and the marine to reject plans to send pigs from Ireland to China, where they’d be used as breeding machines.

Cromwell helped shut down Texas A&M University’s deplorable canine muscular dystrophy laboratory. He was arrested and carted off to jail for protesting the laboratory’s tests, and this year, the university made the momentous announcement that it would be putting the remaining nine dogs, who had been transferred to another laboratory, up for adoption.

BREAKING: Actor @jamesocromwell was just ARRESTED at Texas A&M University after speaking up for dogs suffering in its cruel experiments.@TAMU: SHUT THE DOG LAB DOWN! pic.twitter.com/U1pk0aHVUn

— PETA (@peta) October 31, 2019

Most recently, Cromwell superglued his hand to the counter at a Starbucks café in New York to protest the company’s surcharge on vegan milks in its US branches. And if his record is anything to go by, it’s only a matter of time before the chain buckles and agrees to price vegan and dairy milks equally, as it has already done in the UK.

PETA activists and @jamesocromwell are sticking it to @starbucks asking them to drop the upcharge for vegan milk! pic.twitter.com/azlNLRHolC

— PETA (@peta) May 10, 2022

He’s PETA’s Person of the Year for playing a vital part in our hard-won campaigns on behalf of animals whose abuse is kept hidden as they are confined to cages, exploited, and killed.

PETA US has released a rapid-fire Q&A video featuring Cromwell, in which the actor reveals a hidden cheeky side, sharing that his last meal would be magic mushrooms, his cat makes him laugh harder than anyone, and today’s generation of animal activists needs to be “implacable and confrontational” – qualities he’s demonstrated in spades when sticking up for animals.

Feel Inspired? Take Action

If you’re inspired by Cromwell, go vegan today and join our Action Team to be the first to hear about protests and other ways to speak up for animals.