Taking a stand behind his series of photos that features Mischa biting and trying to lick a slab of raw steak among others, celebrity photographer Tyler stresses, 'I didn't kill that cow.'
- Oct 12, 2011
AceShowbiz - Tyler Shields and Mischa Barton have found themselves under fire for their recent collaboration that presents the TV actress posing with a slab of raw meat. While Mischa didn't offer any reaction toward PETA's criticism, Tyler refuses to apologize for the series of bizarre photos.
Speaking in defense of himself, the celebrity photographer said, "I am not for the suffering of animals. But I didn't kill that cow." He continued on, "I eat meat and I've always eaten meat and that's part of my life. But when they attack me as an artist and try and degrade Mischa, that's unacceptable."
Tyler reached out to E! Online to state his ground after PETA told TooFab, "This raw meat stuff is getting old and may not only hurt and kill cows." The organization added, "It may hurt Mischa, because so much meat is infected with salmonella, E. coli, and campylobacter that licking it is like licking a toilet."
"In addition to this being completely unoriginal, it's completely callous - flesh from a tortured animal isn't a joke, isn't camp, and isn't cool," the animal right group continued on slamming the photographer in the statement. "Meat is full of blood, is produced with violence, and causes great suffering."
"So if that's the look they were going for, too bad: They could have taken a leaf out of the playbooks of Pamela Anderson and Alyssa Milano, two PETA pinups who have shown off their natural beauty in outfits made of lettuce leaves for PETA's 'Let Vegetarianism Grow on You' campaign."
Tyler's photos that infuriated PETA feature Mischa posing with raw steak. In one picture, the 25-year-old is captured sticking out her tongue toward the red meat, while in another, she takes a bite out of the steak. Two other photos see the meat being pressed against the face of the former star of "The O.C.".
