P. Diddy's Party Penguins

Thanks to Emmy for this daily tidbit of wonderment... I bet P. Diddy is pretty petrified at his penguin performance pissing off the PETA people. Poor Penguins.

Daily Hip-Hop News:
P. Diddy Peeves PETA Over Petrified Penguins
Thursday - February 24, 2005
by Carl Chery

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is upset with Sean "P. Diddy" Combs for recently hosting a South Beach party featuring live penguins as entertainment.

According to PETA, six penguins were put on a Plexiglas platform floating in a pool during the opening of South Beach's Hotel Victor last Friday. Partygoers told the New York Post's Page Six that the penguins grouped together in the corner of the platform in fear of slipping into the pool.

"The penguins were obviously bothered by the crowd and the loud music," an attendee told the Post. "They were all huddled into one corner facing away from everything, trying to get out. Many guests stared in shock, and others started yelling, 'Save the penguins!' It was a sad sight and a terrible idea."

According to PETA spokesman Michael McGraw, the use of penguins during hot weather possibly broke cruelty-to-animals laws.

"Penguins live in very cold climates, so the heat was probably unbearable for them. They're very sensitive to temperatures, so if it was as hot as we've heard, it's a wonder they didn't collapse," McGraw explained. "In any case, they were likely terrified. We are now looking into whether having the penguins there broke any cruelty-to-animals laws. We're asking anyone who was at the party to call us with any information."

Though PETA believes Diddy is responsible for the entertainment, Puff's publicist assured that the mogul was only hosting the fiesta and that the penguins weren't his idea.

"He had nothing to do with planning the party and nothing to do with the hotel," Rob Shuter, Combs' publicist revealed.

Diddy has had run-ins with PETA in the past. In 2001, the organization canceled a protest targeting his Sean John clothing line after Puff swore to remove fur from his collection.

"We sent him flowers and a vegan chocolate champagne bottle," McGraw shared. "And the next day, there was fur all over his runway. We were duped. We later named him to PETA's annual worst-dressed list."

Despite PETA's allegations, the Hotel Victor spokesman contends that the penguins were "warm-weather" species from South Africa "trained specifically for entertainment, expositions and television commercials. At the close of the event, the handlers notified us that the penguins were unaffected by the crowd, weather and the noise. We sincerely apologize if anyone was offended by this display."