PETA to Gibson: Thou shalt not kill animals

Mel Gibson’s controversial film “The Passion of the Christ” depicts the suffering of Christ. And that is prompting attacks from some who say that Gibson has been causing the suffering of critters.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is planning to protest Gibson today, descending on his cattle ranch in Columbus, Montana while bearing signs that read: “Thou Shalt Not Kill” and “Honor all of God’s Creations.”

“Anyone who sends cows to slaughter mocks God,” says PETA’s vegan campaign director Bruce Friedrich, who also is a devout Roman Catholic. “Slaughterhouses are the embodiment of violence, bloodshed, and cruelty. If Gibson wants his audience to contemplate the awfulness of inflicting suffering on the innocent, he should show his own animals some mercy.”

Gibson’s rep wasn’t available for comment.

No more Motown for Timberlake

Justin Timberlake won’t be hosting ABC’s Motown special after all, but the network insists that the change of hosts has nothing to do with protests.

Timberlake and Lionel Richie had been chosen to host the special “Motown 45,” which was scheduled to be broadcast in May. As The Scoop reported yesterday, some African American pundits were outraged about the choice of Timberlake, and one called it “a cultural insult to the black community.” There were calls for a boycott or protest both because Motown is associated with African American performers and because of Timberlake’s role in the Super Bowl scandal.

Yesterday, ABC announced that due to a “scheduling conflict,” Timberlake would not be involved with the show.

“When Justin was asked to host the Motown 45^th Anniversary special, he gladly accepted, but alerted us to the fact that he was in talks to star in his first motion picture with Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman [‘Edison’] and that at the last minute there could possibly be a scheduling conflict,” Jeff Margolis, Executive Producer of “Motown 45” said in a prepared statement e-mailed to The Scoop. “The movie in fact is scheduled to be shot in Canada at a time which no longer allows Justin to host the ‘Motown 45’ special. He has cancelled all television appearances through the end of April to allow him to concentrate on making the movie.”

Notes from all over

Lisa Marie Presley admits that her singing voice hasn’t always been pitch perfect. “I was thrown on national television to perform live,” Elvis’ daughter told the Sunday Herald Sun of Australia. “I had to figure out how to use my ear monitor. I couldn’t hear the rest of the band, and I sang off key for most of the shows. Oh, well.”   . . . Melissa Rivers’ detractors are taking to E!’s message board, demanding that the fashion arbiter be banned from the Oscars show. “Her presentation and outfits at the Awards pre-shows is always a joke,” lamented one poster. “Do you not read your own message boards?”  . . .Ben Stiller now wishes he hadn’t shown his bare behind in “Along Came Polly.” “The director promised me he’d cut the scene if it didn’t get a laugh,” Stiller told the London Daily Mail. “The thing is, I found out later I could have used a butt double but no one even bothered to tell me it was even an option.”

Jeannette Walls Delivers The Scoop Mondays through Thursdays on MSNBC.com

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