‘Babe’ star James Cromwell superglues hand to Starbucks counter in vegan milk upcharge protest

Image: PETA

Mohsina Dodhiya11th May 202211th May 2022Celebrity, Food, News, Vegan Activism

The protest was a part of PETA’s campaign to get Starbucks to stop charging customers extra for the vegan milks it has agreed are better for the planet.

Babe Actor James Cromwell led a dramatic protest as he superglued his hand to a Starbucks counter in Manhattan on Tuesday.

The Midtown Manhattan “glue-in” was part of PETA’s campaign calling on Starbucks to stop ‘punishing kind and environmentally conscious customers for choosing plant milks’.

Cromwell, sporting a “Free the Animals” T-shirt, joined members of PETA inside the Broadway Starbucks near West 40th Street.

The vegan charity live-streamed the event on Facebook in which Cromwell rattled off facts about the dairy industry’s contribution to animal exploitation and the climate catastrophe while being stuck to the shop’s counter

According to Cromwell, Starbucks “still discriminates” and makes customers “pay more” for vegan options such as almond milk and oat milk, despite agreeing that vegan milks are better for the planet.

This is how you get an animal rights message to STICK!

James Cromwell joined PETA’s campaign and glued himself to a @Starbucks counter to call on the company to stop charging extra for animal and earth-friendly vegan milks! pic.twitter.com/N9aitSQHSm
— PETA (@peta) May 10, 2022

‘Starbucks should do its part’

Starbucks charges up to 70 cents extra for coffee served with any plant-based milk. In December, the coffee chain announced it was dropping that charge in the UK but not in the US.

“My friends at PETA and I are calling on Starbucks to stop punishing kind and environmentally conscious customers for choosing plant milks,” Cromwell said.

“We all have a stake in the life-and-death matter of the climate catastrophe, and Starbucks should do its part by ending its vegan upcharge.”

Reading from a paper, Cromwell asked the coffee giant: “More than 13,000 customers have asked you, now we’re asking you.

“Will you stop charging more for vegan milk?

“When will you stop raking in huge profits while customers, animals and the environment suffer?

“When will you stop penalising people for their ethnicities, their morals?”

While Cromwell and his PETA allies continuously chanted “Save the planet, save the cows. End the vegan upcharge now,” the employees remained unfazed and went on with their work as usual.

The police soon arrived to drive the protesters away. Cromwell also freed himself using a knife to detach his hand from the countertop.

No arrests were made and Starbucks temporarily shut down the location

A spokesperson for Starbucks later told Page Six that it treats “all demonstrators as customers” unless there is a disruption such as PETA’s.

Cromwell and animal activism

Cromwell, who is an honorary director at PETA, has a long history of advocating for animal rights.

In 2017, he was arrested for protesting against SeaWorld’s treatment of orca whales.

Back in February 2013, the star was arrested with animal rights activist Jeremy Beckham for crashing a meeting at the University of Wisconsin to protest the mistreatment of animals on campus.

In 2019, Cromwell was arrested on the Texas A&M University campus for protesting the university’s use of dogs for medical research purposes.