It’s been quite a few days for climate and animal activists as a slew of viral videos have hit the internet showing various stunts at major events, from New York Fashion Week to the US Open.
NYFW, Coach Fashion Show
At Coach’s Spring ready-to-wear 2024 show Thursday at Manhattan’s New York Public Library, two PETA demonstrators crashed the runway with the message, “Coach leather kills.”
One protestor strutted down the runway naked in body paint with the phrase etched across her chest, while the other followed behind her (clothed) carrying a sign that said the same thing.
A clip of the incident, captured by The Cut, shows the women being physically picked up and taken away by security.
“Today’s conscientious consumers know that the future of fashion lies in innovative vegan materials, not in cows’ sliced-off skin,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a company release about the incident.
Coach did not yet publically comment on the incident.
US Open, Women’s Singles Semi-Finals
On Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York, climate activists disrupted the women’s singles tennis semi-final match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova.
Three of the four protestors, who were donning T-shirts that said “End Fossil Fuels,” were removed from the premises while the fourth physically glued his bare feet down to the concrete stadium floor.
In other news, a protestor super glued his feet to the concrete and there was a 45 minute delay in the US Open semi-final while they unglued him. pic.twitter.com/0IlBdSVLOU
— ACL-Sports.com®–Sports Investor (@TheRealMrACL) September 8, 2023
Protestor glued feet to the ground at US Open. #USOpenTennis #USOpen #tennis #TennisNews pic.twitter.com/dMO2YGZQLD
— Dack (@Dack8110) September 8, 2023
The game was stopped for nearly an hour due to the incident.
“Three of the four protesters were escorted out of the stadium without further incident. The fourth protester affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl,” The US Open said in an official statement. “Due to the nature of this action, NYPD and medical personnel were needed in order to safely remove this individual from the stadium. The four protesters were taken into NYPD custody.”
Ryanair CEO
On Thursday, Michael O’Leary, the CEO of Ryanair (the Europe-based low-budget airline), was pied-in-the-face by a climate activist during a speech outside the European Commission in Brussels.
“Welcome in Belgium,” one of the activists screamed in the now-viral clip. “Stop the pollution of the f**king planes.”
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary was hit with a pie by environmental activists during a press conference in Brussels.
The activists can be heard shouting “stop the pollution” before throwing the cake at O’Learyhttps://t.co/AYlfWbXGlu pic.twitter.com/s5s4DnU2O6
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 7, 2023
O’Leary took the incident in stride, joking to the camera after the protestors ran off.
“We’re here to discuss the petition,” he said. “I love cream cakes. They’re my favorite.”
O’Leary was speaking in favor of a petition asking European leadership to permit flights flying through French airspace to bypass restrictions on the ground due to a strike with air traffic controllers.
Walmart Heiress’s Superyacht Spraypainted—Again
Climate activists in Spain spray-painted Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie’s super yacht in Barcelona on Friday in biodegradable (naturally) red paint.
“Billionaires should not exist,” the words read on the side of the boat.
The two activist groups, from Scientist Rebellion and Extinction Rebellion, were detained on the scene for three hours before police released them.
billionaire Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie Yacht spray painted for 2nd time. life’s tough when you’re superrich pic.twitter.com/XR62Yi8BHq
— Stevie ?❤️?♀ (@Stevie_Ca) September 8, 2023
“At the end of another exceptional summer in terms of record temperatures and extreme weather events, the richest 1% of people on the planet continue to pollute more than the poorest 50%,” a spokesperson for the organization said. “Mega-yachts are one of the most obvious examples of a lifestyle that is unsustainable for the planet.”
This is the second time Walton Laurie’s boat has been defaced. In July, an activist group spray painted her boat in Ibiza with the words “You Consume Others Suffer.”