Joaquin Phoenix Shines Spotlight on Animal Ag at Oscars!

Oscars 2020 triumph for the animals! Joaquin Phoenix tells it like it is to the world! It’s not often that Oscar’s acceptance speech blows your hair back, but that’s exactly what Joaquin Phoenix’s speech did! We’re sure that all of the rest of the guests in the Dolby Theatre and around the world who were watching this award show were also blown away when Joaquin dropped this truth bomb about the animal agriculture industry. Joaquin is no stranger to using his celebrity to shine a light on the world’s injustices. The shy celebrity has really opened up and has found his voice for the animals. Although he has been coming to the pig vigils for years and has helped make several animal rights films, this award season he has used his spotlight to shed light on the inconvenient truth about where animal products come from and the suffering behind them.

Joaquin used his incredible moment to spread awareness of the terrible injustices towards all beings on our planet.

He famously attended an LA Animal Save Pig Vigil right after winning Best Actor at The SAG Awards in order to show the world what is happening to slaughter-bound pigs. He has also been speaking up for the rights of people who he feels have also been oppressed due to “gender inequality, racism, [and] queer rights.” Joaquin is an all-around activist for all beings who have been wronged by our society human and nonhuman alike. He’s even taken a stand for the planet by attending The Youth Climate Strike and Fire Drill Fridays in Wahington D.C. and Los Angeles. He has been such an incredible “voice for the voiceless” and we are so proud to have him as a member of our animal-loving planet-conserving community!

Activists held wonderful signs in celebration of Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar win!

Jane UnChained LIVE as pigs arrive in truckloads at a slaughterhouse near downtown Los Angeles, California to face their deaths at the same time as Joaquin Phoenix spoke of the unfairness of animal agriculture while winning Best Actor at The Oscars! Animal lovers give the pigs water and a loving touch as they head in to be killed! The vigil is organized by Los Angeles Animal Save, led by Amy Jean Davis, as part of The Animal Save Movement USA!

A pig arrives on the truck covered in waste.

This night was no different at the slaughterhouse as activists buzzed over the latest award won by Joaquin which aired during the pig vigil. The trucks still pulled up one by one filled wall to wall with piglets as they filled up the parking lot at the slaughterhouse. Activists gave water and love to these creatures as they do every week on Sunday and Wednesday night. Many pigs eagerly gulped down the water, possibly after not having water or food for days as they traveled. Vegan celebrity and filmmaker Kip Anderson and musical artist Moby who regularly attends these vigils were in attendance as well. We can only hope that the joint efforts of these powerful celebrity voices for the animals alongside the dedicated efforts of these activists will one day bring an end to the practices by mankind that cause other beings to suffer needlessly.

A child reaches as high as they can to give water to a thirsty pig.

The full speech transcript from Vox.com:

“Hi. What’s up? Hi. God, I’m full of so much gratitude right now and I do not feel elevated above any of my fellow nominees or anyone in this room, because we share the same love, the love of film, and this form of expression has given me the most extraordinary life. I don’t know what I’d be without it.

But I think the greatest gift that it has given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless. I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the distressing issues that we are facing collectively, and I think at times we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes. But for me, I see commonality.

I think whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice — against the belief that one nation, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control, and use and exploit another with impunity.

I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world and many of us, what we’re guilty of is an egocentric worldview — the belief that we’re the center of the universe. We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow, and when she gives birth, we steal her baby. Even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. And then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal.

And I think we fear the idea of personal change because we think that we have to sacrifice something to give something up but human beings, at our best, are so inventive and creative and ingenious, and I think that when we use love and compassion as our guiding principles, we can create, develop, and implement systems of change that are beneficial to all sentient beings and to the environment.

Now, I have been — I’ve been a scoundrel in my life. I’ve been selfish, I’ve been cruel at times, hard to work with. And I’m grateful [to] so many of you in this room [who] have given me a second chance and I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we support each other, not when we cancel each other out for past mistakes, but when we help each other to grow, when we educate each other, when we guide each other toward redemption. That is the best of humanity.

I just — I want to — when he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said, “Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.” Thank you.” – Joaquin Phoenix

Slaughterhouse and animal agricultural representatives are invited to respond at any time.