Olivia Munn–the gorgeous Maxim model, Daily Show correspondent and Suck
It, Wonder Woman! The Misadventures of a Hollywood Geek author–appeared last night at a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' protest against the Ringling Bros. circus at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
It's a testament to Tinsel Town star power that LA got Munn for its PETA protest, while Anaheim got unknown model Meggan Anderson (who was lovely nonetheless, as you'll recall from Christopher Victorio's photos).
However, Munn also has a current connection to Orange County and animals that should raise eyebrows among her fellow activists.
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First, if you go to the video here, you see and hear a fully clothed Munn talking in LA about “electro-shock therapy” for the circus
animals and how audiences see lights and hear music and laughter that
evoke fun, but “behind the curtain” a horror show is happening for non-human performers. “Don't give a single dollar” to the
circus, she advises.
That's curious given the current issue of 944 Magazine, which is distributed and zoned for big cities across the country. The July edition features Munn on the cover in a two-piece to celebrate the “Travel Issue” in every 944 city except Orange County, which has her decked out to go to the track for its “Hollywood Glamour Del Mar Style” issue.
We'll go out a limb and assume 944's Orange County crew struck a deal with their horse-racing counterparts at the Del Mar Fairgrounds south of OC to come up with the unique stories and photo spreads. (Which, come to think of it, brings to mind the LA Times-Staples Center marketing deal from several years ago. It all comes full circle, baby!)
This special arrangement is evident both in the magazine and at Del Mar Scene, which features Munn's 944 cover for Orange County and a video of her photo shoot for that cover.
This isn't meant to slight the journalistic integrity of 944. Lifestyle magazine cross promote with advertisers all the time.
But, check out this magazine copy, PETA members:
It's her first trip to the track and Olivia Munn is excited, having
perfected her Opening Day look by posing in vintage couture that
emanates “Old Hollywood glamour meets Kentucky Derby aristocrat” for
944's special-edition July Del Mar Races cover. “I just bought my first
house and it's decorated very Old Hollywood-style,” says Munn. “Lots of
black and white, splashes of red and gray, elegant vintage accents,
chandeliers everywhere … I love that era.” Munn, who prefers “an
effortless, comfortable, clean look that mixes and matches basic colors
rather than looking like I spent eight hours getting ready,” shares her
tried-and-true beauty secrets, fashion favorites and styling tips for
dressing to impress.
Sweet. But couldn't a case be made, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that horse racing exploits animals every bit as much as the circus? Just sayin'.
UPDATE: Actually, it's a case that's been made much more fervently by . . . wait for it . . . PETA! Their website's Media Center includes the “fact sheet” titled “The Horseracing Industry: Drugs, Deception and Death.” PETA's top leadership called for changes in the horseracing industry following the death of the filly Eight Belles in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Activists have gone so far as to equate horseracing with dog fighting.
As far as we can tell from the following video, no horses were harmed during Munn's 944 photo shoot . . .
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.