PETA has one request for Apple TV+ should the Vince Vaughn-starring series Bad Monkey be renewed for Season 2: “kill off the monkey.” In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the animal-rights group urged the company to move forward with the show sans Driggs, the mischief-making monkey, who is actually a female tufted capuchin named Crystal.
“Monkeys belong with their families in the jungle, not on a noisy, crowded television set where they’re forced to perform demeaning tricks,” Debbie Metzler, a primatologist and PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Wildlife, wrote.
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Based on Carl Hiaasen novel of the same name, Bad Monkey centers around Vaughn’s Andrew Yancy, a one-time detective turned restaurant inspector who is pulled into a world of greed and corruption when a severed arm is found by a tourist. Driggs the monkey makes frequent appearances throughout. But Metzler noted in her letter to Cook that “primates don’t want to be on TV,” and “studies have shown that using them in the media also fuels a dangerous demand for these animals as ‘pets.’”
“And now, the new docuseries Chimp Crazy has offered the most compelling condemnation of using primates for entertainment yet,” she continued, also noting that Crystal, a tufted capuchin, is owned by Hollywood animal supplier Birds & Animals Unlimited and has been “exploited” for more than 20 years. “So we have a suggestion for you: If Bad Monkey is renewed for a second season, please kill off the monkey. Yes, kill off the monkey.”
Metzler said that parting ways with Driggs wouldn’t prove to be that big of an issue for Bad Monkey, as the sequel story, Razor Girl, does not include a monkey. She went as far as providing three storylines for Bad Monkey’s writers to bid farewell to Driggs: “He could die of heart disease from eating the typical junk fed to ‘pet’ primates;” “He could die of a broken heart from being denied everything that’s natural and important to him on a set like that of Bad Monkey;” “Or to keep it light and funny, he could slip on a banana peel!”
But PETA is hoping that Apple TV+ will go a step further than killing off Driggs in Bad Monkey. The group wants the company to promise to never use primates in their productions again. Metzler and PETA called on Cook to sign the Primate Protection Pledge.
“We appreciate all you’ve done to lead Apple with compassion, such as the decision to ban leather, sparing countless animals tremendous suffering,” the letter concluded. “Now, attention should turn to primates used in film and TV, and given Apple’s prominence in the entertainment industry, it’s critical that your streaming service stop supporting this cruel industry that profits off ripping baby monkeys from their mothers and forcing them into unnatural situations and lives of deprivation.”
Cook has not responded to the letter at this time. Bad Monkey has not been renewed for a second season at this time, and it’s unclear whether Crystal would be brought back to portray Driggs.
