Meet, or Meet, PETA’s Dan Mathews!

Anna Wintour's handsome arch-enemy unleashes his hilarious new tell-all on how he became the wild kingdom's most audacious frontman.

By Cintra Wilson

Dan Mathews, Vice President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), releases his first book—Committed, a Rabble-Rouser’s Memoir—this month. Here, a few words with the debonair spokesman.

BLACKBOOK: How did a punk kid from L.A. get involved with animal-rights activism?

DAN MATHEWS: I noticed, where I grew up, that the people who were beating me up for being gay were also torturing cats. Cruelty is cruelty. One day a guy punched me in the stomach, and I was on the ground, gasping for breath. I noticed all these people standing around, laughing. When my father took me fishing one day, I caught a big flounder. Everyone laughed because it was so big and ugly. They hit it on the head, and all this blood spurted out. I saw this creature, gasping for breath, and people standing around, laughing. I gave up eating fish when I was 15.

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BB: What has been the most moving victory for you in regard to PETA?

DM: When we stormed into the Calvin Klein offices. [Klein] was refusing to acknowledge that he’d been sent our materials. We snuck in, and occupied his offices. He finally agreed to meet with us. Once he saw our tapes, he stopped using fur in his line. It’s amazing to watch people have a change of heart.

BB: Some people feel that PETA undermines its most important issues by focusing just as intently on making the world vegan and abhorring leather and wool. Is there no compromise on these issues, for PETA?

DM: No. PETA was never intended to be popular, but people keep joining. We’re up to 1.6 million members. A lot of people support PETA precisely because we are so militant.

BB: Is negative attention, for PETA, just as good as positive attention?

DM: Absolutely. I tell you, in terms of fashion shows: I’ve been on the runway, as a model, and I’ve disrupted them—and disrupting them is more fun.

BB: You called Andrew Cunanan “Man of the Year” for killing Gianni Versace.

DM: An interviewer asked me who I thought was an influential gay man, and I said Andrew Cunanan, for finally getting Versace to stop using fur. I ended up getting a lot of work from that. It ultimately led to my getting the book deal for Committed.

BB: Still, that was pretty cold-blooded.

DM: Oh, come on, it’s just a serial-killer joke.

BB: How do you defend PETA’s use of corporate espionage—covertly planting PETA reps into companies to illicitly gain videotape?

DM: You wouldn’t believe what goes on in some of these places. There’s a slaughterhouse where a guy was supposed to cut the feet and the lips off of cows—before they were killed—so that their skins could be more easily removed for leather. The cows were supposed to be dead, but they weren’t.  The guy would cut off one foot and the cow would use the other foot to kick him.

BB: What does PETA say to practitioners of Vodun, Santeria, or any of the other ancient religions that require animal sacrifice?

DM: It’s illegal to sacrifice animals. I think it’s kind of sad that some people still feel they need to spill blood in order to honor their religion. 

BB: Some feminists have criticized PETA’s use of naked supermodels and Playboy bunnies. One of your spokepersons recently screamed “J-Lo, Ho” at a J-Lo event. Was calling Jennifer Lopez a whore really necessary?

DM: That was being chanted, but it was not a PETA-condoned slogan.  It just kind of happened. Some people in this country can’t tell the difference between sexy and sexist. PETA uses naked men in its advertising just as much as naked women, but nobody cares. Women also prefer to look at naked women.

BB: So, it’s OK to call people “Hos?” Wouldn’t J-Lo fans think, “Screw PETA—they won’t even let me eat salmon or wear Birkenstocks”?

DM: If we can disrupt an event and embarrass a celebrity enough to bring attention to the animals, then we’ve done our job. Besides, I’ve been called a “ho” plenty of times in my life, and it hasn’t done me any real harm.

BB: Does PETA oppose cannibalism?

DM: No, as long as the person being eaten is Anna Wintour.