Comedian Mike Epps Accused Of Animal Abuse After Kangaroo Stunt

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Comedian Mike Epps is under fire after bringing a kangaroo onstage during a recent show in Michigan. 

The “Hangover” actor performed a comedy show in Detroit Friday for his Festival of Laughs tour that included an appearance by a leashed kangaroo. The kangaroo was brought out by a handler and Epps danced with it. The animal seemed agitated and appeared to take a swing at the comedian. 

Whyyyy did they bring the kangaroo on stage at Mike Epps show . I love Detroit http://pic.twitter.com/DoqNu4jcf6

— Amber ♍ (@_AmNico) April 1, 2017

Angry commenters took to Twitter to criticize Epps for the stunt. 

@TheRealMikeEpps .@TheRealMikeEpps You've lost a fan after the kangaroo #ShitShow. WTF? Animals are not for exploitation the same way humans aren't

— Paige Nelson Ⓥ (@DolphinPaige) April 2, 2017

@TheRealMikeEpps BIG FAN Mike.. But the whole Kangaroo thing not cool

— Nick Mezzanares Ⓥ (@nickseashepherd) April 2, 2017

Epps had posted a video of himself feeding a kangaroo with the hashtag #nevertriedtohurthhim among others, but later deleted it.

#PressPlay: #MikeEpps has a message for those who criticized him for having the kangaroo on stage with him the other night in Detroit http://pic.twitter.com/Wsoob0W0sb

— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) April 2, 2017

According to TMZ, the kangaroo is part of a traveling exotic zoo and its handler Javon Stacks ― who went viral last week after he was recorded walking the kangaroo around Detroit streets ― claimed to have proper licensing. 

PETA was disappointed, as well. 

“Traumatic situations can be fatal to kangaroos — who are not hardy animals — and this individual was subjected to a great deal of stress by being dragged in front of a boisterous crowd and forced to ‘dance,’” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement to the media. “PETA hopes the U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct an immediate investigation and that the backlash over this stunt will remind all comedians that there’s nothing funny about cruelty to animals.”

Epps apologized in an Instagram post, claiming he would donate to Save the Kangaroos in light of the backlash. 

Look I wanna sincerely apologize to everybody ,I don't own the kangaroo and did not mean any harm to the animal it got outta hand and Iam sorry !and like I said I will be donating money to this foundation save the kangaroos ! Sorry if I offedend anybody I love animals sense I was a kid I had dogs my whole life !!#imadeabadmistake I keep taking down my post because of the back lash Iam getting!! thank you for forgiveness !!

A post shared by Mike Epps (@eppsie) on Apr 2, 2017 at 7:06pm PDT

The Huffington Post reached out to a rep for Epps but did not hear back as of press time.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

April 04, 2017 at 02:07AM

http://ift.tt/2n5kCey

from Cavan Sieczkowski

http://ift.tt/2n5kCey