Pamela Anderson Just Called Out TIFF For Their Ties To Canada Goose

In the run up to this month’s Toronto Film Festival, Baywatch superstar and Canadian-native Pamela Anderson has written a letter to the event’s artistic director, urging them to cut ties with the Canada Goose company. According to Anderson, the Canada Goose brand is guilty of a number of crimes against animals, including allowing coyotes to “suffer for days in steel traps.” 

As an official sponsor of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the Canada Goose clothing company provides necessary funding to the event, which showcases both international and Canadian film-making. However, Anderson is urging TIFF to cut ties with the outerwear brand, and pleading with them to stop accepting what she calls the brand’s “fur-and-feather blood money.”

In her letter to the festival’s artistic director, Anderson describes the way that, she says, the Canada Goose company allows animals to "suffer." She writes, “Canada Goose’s ‘standards’ allow for coyotes to suffer for days in steel traps with a broken or bleeding leg before the trapper returns to shoot or bludgeon them to death, and the company’s jackets are stuffed with the down feathers of birds who died violently.”

She goes on to add, “In the down industry, birds end up at the slaughterhouse, where they're immobilized, their throats are slit, and their bodies are scalded in defeathering tanks.”

Anderson then lists a number of designer fashion brands that have made the move away from real fur towards vegan products, but notes that she perceives Canada Goose as seeming unprepared to ‘make the switch.’

The Baywatch actress concludes her letter by writing, “I urge you to make this year the last one in which you have Canada Goose as a sponsor," adding that the Berlin International Film Festival cut ties with the company in 2017. She notes, “TIFF has rightfully taken its place in world cinema and can afford to be selective in its sponsorships.”

Anderson has long been a prominent activist for animal rights, and is an honorary director with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Over the last few years, Anderson has not held back when speaking out against certain practices in Canada, most recently calling on Alberta’s Premiere to put a stop to the chuckwagon racing at the Calgary Stampede.

Although PETA and Anderson have taken issue with Canada Goose, many don't share that animosity.

The brand is a beloved supplier of clothing and winter wear for many both inside and outside of Canada and recently opened a new store in Edmonton.

A representative of Canada Goose told Narcity: "This is just another example of PETA using their scripted rhetoric in an attempt to mislead consumers. We remain committed to the responsible use and ethical sourcing of all materials in our products, as evidenced by our transparency standards."*

In response to Anderson’s most recent comments, Canada Goose have expressed their ‘disappointment’ that PETA, “continues to grossly misinform their celebrity spokespeople about our use and sourcing of fur and down.” Their statement went on to say, “We encourage them to do their research first and not misrepresent the facts.”

Canada Goose insists that they are “committed to the responsible use and ethical sourcing of all materials in our products.”

There are a number of animal rights protests planned for TIFF’s opening night, and throughout the festival.

The Toronto Film Festival begins on Thursday, Sept. 5.

*This article has been updated.

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