Star Trek Actor Glues Himself To Coffee Counter To Protest Animal Cruelty
Star Trek actor and Academy Award-nominee James Cromwell glued his hand to a Starbucks coffee counter recently as a form of protest for animal rights.
Legendary actor James Cromwell recently took part in a protest in the name of animal rights in New York City by gluing his hand to the counter of a Starbucks location. Cromwell is a noted animal rights activist and an Honorary Director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and an advocate for a wide variety of progressive rights. It is unclear whether the Babe and L.A. Confidential actor was arrested; varying reports indicate so, while PETA has reported that no arrests were made. However, this would not be the first time for James Cromwell, who has previously been arrested multiple times while peacefully protesting. Here is video of Cromwell at the Starbucks protest:
In this particular incident, James Cromwell was protesting that the multinational coffee chain charges an extra fee for substituting non-dairy milk. While this may seem like a small issue, the focus point of the matter is that United States Starbucks locations charge an extra fee while they do not in many other countries, which Cromwell and PETA allege is greed on behalf of the massive corporation. Their immense ingredient requirements contribute heavily to the industrial dairy complex, which protestors decry as enormously cruel and inhumane, requiring the forced births of innumerable animals and the immediate separation of newborns in order to stimulate milk production. According to James Cromwell and PETA, instituting an extra charge for non-dairy milk helps support these practices by normalizing them on the consumer end.
Reportedly, James Cromwell became a vegetarian in the 1970s after witnessing the treatment of animals at a Texas stockyard. He later became a vegan in 1995 while acting in the hit film Babe, which heavily featured themes of animal rights. In addition to campaigning for animal rights, Cromwell has been active in anti-Vietnam War protests, protests against harmful energy industries, and in defense of the Black Panther Party. This particular protest involved him using superglue to affix himself to the counter of a Manhattan Starbucks location, a method that has seen increasingly frequent use in recent years. Reportedly, James Cromwell was able to remove his hand voluntarily after a period of time.
James Cromwell is best known to many audiences for Babe, in which he played the titular pig’s owner Farmer Hoggett. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the role, and delivered the classic like “That’ll do, Pig.” Cromwell also starred in the films L.A. Confidential, Eraser, and The Green Mile. He has appeared in numerous Star Trek properties, most prominently as warp-drive inventory Zefram Cochrane in 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact (reprising the role in two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise). Cromwell also played three different characters in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is also particularly noted for his roles in the HBO series Six Feet Under, FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum, and the drama Succession as the brother of lead character Brian Cox. He currently is starring in HBO’s Julia biopic series, as the father of famed television chef Julia Child.
