Just over Thanksgiving, Matt Damon almost stepped on PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)'s toes, when he was photographed at a bullfight in Mexico. He's since apologized, explaining why he was there in the first place. Damon and PETA go a long way back, but that's not to say the controversial animal rights group would hesitate to rip into him if he does something that goes against its beliefs.
As such, it's not hard to imagine how PETA people reacted when they saw Damon at a bullfight in Mexico. However, he was quicker than them in reacting,
Radar Online reports.
“After Radar Online published photos of Matt Damon attending a bullfight in Mexico last Sunday, we knew that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) would be taking the actor to task,” the e-zine says.
Knowing the group would probably go straight to the media with a reprimand on the actor's actions, Damon wrote to its representatives himself, offering an explanation for why he was there.
“We wrote to Matt Damon as soon as pictures of him at a Mexican bullfight surfaced – and within 24 hours, he personally telephoned PETA Vice President Lisa Lange to correct the false impression that he had given," PETA's Jane Dollinger says for the aforementioned celebrity publication.
He wasn't at the bullfight to have some fun, but rather to do research, of sorts.
“Matt said that he went to the bullfight believing that bullfights should be stopped but felt that he should see the cruelty for himself while he was in Mexico,” Lange explains.
“He said that seeing with his own eyes what these tormented animals go through only reinforced an already strongly held belief that bullfights should be relegated to the history books,” she adds.
Of course, the actor was upset to learn that photos of his presence at the bullfight were interpreted to his detriment and that the press jumped to conclusions about his stance on such a “sport.”
“He also said that he was upset to think that his attendance was in any way construed to be an endorsement of such a barbaric activity,” Lange further says.
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