Leona Lewis Wins PETA’S ‘Person Of The Year’ Award

For Immediate Release:
17 December 2008
 
Contact:
Anna Sargent 020 7357 9229, ext 228; [email protected] 
 
London – PETA is recognising Grammy Award nominee and record-breaking artist Leona Lewis as its 2008 Person of the Year for her commitment to sparing the lives of animals used for fashion and food. Ms Lewis refuses to wear fur or leather, advocates for choosing a compassionate diet (she has been vegetarian since turning 12) and is currently in talks to produce a line of leather-free shoes and accessories. She was voted PETA’s 2008 Sexiest Vegetarian Alive earlier this year.

This year, Ms Lewis turned down an offer of £1 million from Harrods to open its summer sale because the company would not agree to stop selling fur (Harrods is the only department store in the UK which still sells fur). When asked by Hello about the rift, she said, “I think [fur is] totally cruel, and I can’t endorse or support anything related to that as it’s against my beliefs, no matter what you pay me”.
 
“Leona Lewis is admired for her beautiful voice, but it’s her kindness to animals that makes her a superstar in our book”, says PETA Europe Director Robbie LeBlanc.

PETA’s 2007 Person of the Year was Stella McCartney.
 
For more information on PETA, visit PETA.org.uk.