Animal rights activist Pink is pissed off that Prince William didn’t send a contrite enough response to her letter asking him to stop hunting poor defenseless foxes. (The furry kind, not the female kind that are likely to swarm around the future king.) Pink says William got back to her, but calls his response unexpected. Instead of a formal reply, she says William’s letter sounded like “a redneck from the South.” Isn’t redneck a derogatory term, especially when used as a put down and adding “from the South” as if Southerners are backwards hicks?
This news is from Q Magazine as reported by The NY Daily News. I can’t find the original quotes on Q Magazine’s website and I’d really like to know what Pink said exactly and if she gives any details of Prince William’s letter:
Royalty means little to chart-topper Pink when it comes to animal cruelty.
The singer, who is a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, called Britain’s Prince William “a redneck from the South” after receiving the prince’s written response to a letter she wrote protesting fox hunting.
“I wrote to him to protest about fox hunting and I figured he would be this stuffy, privileged a–hole,” Pink told Q magazine. “But he’s like a redneck from the South.”
And the “So What” singer thinks Prince William, who attended the U.K.’s best schools, could use a better education.
“If you’re brought up shooting and hunting animals, if you really think it’s second nature and you’re blasting away, then it’s hard to see the other point of view,” she told the magazine. “You need educating.”
In the past, Pink also has sent a letter to William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, protesting the use of bearskin hats on her guards.
“I actually proposed a plan,” the 30-year-old singer went on to say. “Stella McCartney had designed these replacement hats for the guards using fake fur. I felt we were solving the problem for her and offering a viable solution.
But she never wrote back. Maybe she doesn’t have any of my stuff on her iPod.”
[From NY Daily News]
Pink means well, but she sounds pretty aggressive in her pursuit of the royals. I checked Pink’s website to see if she addressed this controversy on a blog or something, but she has no blog. She does use Twitter pretty regularly but mostly talks about what she’s doing on tour and how she’s cooking or exercising. Pink also sends a lot of cute tweets to her on-again man, Carey Hart. Hart loves her so much he just got a creepy zombie-like tattoo of her face on his leg.
Anyway I’m still really curious to see what Prince William told pink on the fox hunting issue. Did he defend it by saying his family has done it for generations? Bored rich people had to find some way to pass the time during the day. Now we have computers, video games, and television so there’s even less of an excuse for terrorizing cute little animals.
Pink has a new interview in the upcoming issue of Women’s Health. She talks about her relationship with Carey and says that she’s “gone soft” now that they’ve reconciled. “When I met Carey, I was an abused puppy in the corner, ready to bite anyone who put their hand out.” Awww. Showbiz Spy also quotes a “source” who says Pink and Carey are ready to try for a child. We’ll see.
Prince William is shown on 11/7/09 and 10/9/09. Credit: Photo Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/WENN.com. Pink is shown on 12/11/09. Credit: WENN.com
Not that it’s completely related to this story, but the term “redneck” was initially coined to describe mine workers who were traveling across the Appalachians to help other miners unionize. They all wore red bandannas, hence, redneck.
Pink is awfully obnoxious about all this. I get that she’s upset about the fox hunt, she’s not the only one. But she ought to be happy she actually got a reply from William at all. I don’t think calling him names is going to further her cause.
Then again, Pink never was subtle.
I love animals and I’m all for animal rights… quite frankly I’m more concerned about all the cutting down of rainforest for our fucking selfish, useless possessions… SAVE THE RED APE… what we do to animals makes me want to cry :*(
anyway, I think that term is offensive and prejudiced…
I’m a redneck from the south (and still here) and I don’t consider it a derogatory term. My friends and family don’t either.
Thats interesting, I thought red neck was for the sunburn people get on their neck when working outside with a t-shirt on. Meh.
Anyway, Pink is never going to get anywhere with this.
I never knew that about the term ‘redneck’. Thanks for the history lesson snowball!
Personally, I cannot think of anything more exhilarating than riding hell for leather across the English countryside. But I couldn’t do it after a live fox, and I loathe PETA. But that is my own personal preference.
I am married to a self-professed “redneck” who likes to hunt. His neck gets red because he is so pale he gets massively sunburnt when he’s out for any period of time, even with factor 50 sunblock.
Anyway, we have to agree to disagree since I barely even eat meat and he loves it. However, he does not hunt for sport or fur; he actually believes in using what he hunts for food and for whatever else he is able. He is not a cruel man and doesn’t believe it is simply “something to do” to pass the time. He also doesn’t use dogs to surround the poor animals and terrify them into a frenzy, tipping the odds in his favour. He uses his wits and patience (and rarely bags anything). I love my husband, and I think I’m a lucky woman.
i’m proud to be a southern girl!!!!! we’re tough in spirit and heart.
It’s not like Pink is this thespian herself. A brick body and spiky, jagged hair and a career in entertainment doesn’t really make someone brilliant or exceptionally cultured. Let’s be frank, people with actual brains don’t usually go into entertainment. And the celebrities that do have degrees, aren’t really using them except as PR.
Anyway, when has William gone fox hunting recently and why should Pink recieve some sort of response/apology out of William. What better way to get quick/easy press than to diss a member of the British Royal Family?
tired of the intellectual vapidity shown by those who choose to make a point or express an opinion by denigrating others. pink is entitled to her opinion. she is not entitled to express it by stereotyping and being contemptuous of southerners. quite ignorant, actually.
by the way, i’m a happily transplanted new yorker who lives in tennessee and couldn’t be paid enough to return to the north. 😉
I don’t like hunting either, but Bella, I think you have a good man. IF you must do it, try to make it as fair as possible. I tell my Uncles all the time that I wish the deer had rifles too. Then it’d be a sport!!
It’s ridiculous that prejudice towards southerners is the last form of “acceptable” bigotry in this country. I was at a Human Resources meeting in New York with someone teaching us what to say and what not to say and I was floored when he made derogatory comments about southerners sitting on their front porches with shotguns. I couldn’t resist asking him why it was ok to say that but not for a man to tell a female coworker she looked really nice in her dress. He said that discrimination against a region of the country has not been defined by HR as inappropriate. NICE.
Is that a leather jacket she’s wearing?!
Honestly, I see her point of view. I don’t think she was trying to say everyone from the South is the same way, she was referring to people who hunt animals for sport who don’t analyze their actions. I think complaints against Prince William’s fox hunting are legitimate, it’s something that has upset animal rights groups in Britain all the same. Just because something is a tradition doesn’t mean it can’t (and shouldn’t) be changed. I am not the biggest animal activist in the world, but I can understand how this situation is upsetting, and presenting the Queen with the option of using faux bear fur instead of the real thing sounds incredibly sensical to me, who can tell the difference?! The royal family is becoming increasingly irrelevant and these actions don’t do anything to help their cause. Frankly, they could use some change, and I applaud anyone willing to stand up to them and ask for a positive change in direction, it’s not like they are above constructive criticism like every other mere mortal.
@Sakota: I’m with you regarding celebrities and brains. Of course there are celebrities that are very intelligent, but the nature of celebrity is very self-absorbed and overwhelms the intelligence eventually.
Also, while I don’t support hunting of any kind (unless you happen to be starving and absolutely cannot find any other way to obtain food), I do think it’s very ambitious of Pink (or anyone) to try to put a stop to something that has been part of someone’s culture for so long. If you are unsuccessful, then be dignified about it.
I sit at home cursing and swearing about how disgusting it is what the Japanese do to these big gentle whales, but I am fully cognizant of the fact that there’s not a damned thing in the world that will ever stop them because they’ve been doing it for years and as long as there are paying consumers, the industry will continue.
As for Pink, herself, I’m not really sure what I think about her. I’ve heard her lauded as being so intelligent and beautiful, as well as talented, but I’m having a really difficult time seeing it. I’m open, though. Hmmm…
People with redneck mentality live everywhere. I wish that she hadn’t brought the South into it. Rednecks are not exclusive to the South.
She says in her leather jacket.
Snowball – While it’s true that it was also used in that instance, the term and it’s usage for poor, rural Southerners predates that.
Whatever. As long as you use what you hunt it’s no more cruel than eating a hamburger, chicken breast, salmon or turkey.
In fact, since most people who actually hunt dont waste anything, I’d argue it’s far more humane.
I like Pink. But come on. PETA? Talk about a grup that kills hundreds of perfectly adoptable pets every year while exploiting women and disrespecting religion. Oh and is also linked to terrorist orginizations. So. Yeah. Stay classy.
The most common American usage, that of the working class rural white Southerner, is generally believed to derive from individuals having a red neck caused by working outdoors in the sunlight over the course of their lifetime.
The Covenanters signed documents stating that Scotland desired a Presbyterian Church government, and rejected the Church of England as their official church. Many of the signed these documents using their own blood, and many in the movement began wearing red pieces of cloth around their neck to signify their position to the public. They were referred to as rednecks. Many of them went on to settle in the South and Eastern part of the United States and the name followed them and their descendants.
Then the miner’s union were also referred to as rednecks.
So taken from either of these three roots it is a derogatory term. Adding from the South makes it worse. Being from the South I know there are now people that are “proud to be rednecks” but that is no different from other groups that start to use derogatory slang towards one another.
Sakota – How is her not being an actor, her body type, or career choice indicative of her not being cultured or intelligent. I don’t know if she is, but those are odd examples. There are lots of intelligent people in the entertainment industry. They just decided to use their “brains” for creativity and entertaining others rather than whatever you deem an acceptable occupation.
Spoken like a true Hollywood hypocrite, Pink. I don’t think the Prince should have responded.
sayrah-
I would have reported it and made a HUGE stink about “discrimination”. Hell, everyone else gets to whine and cry about it, why can’t us rednecks get in on the sweet, sweet discrimination money train? But apparently you can only make inappropriate comments about white, Christian rural people. I’d have sued.
Leticia-
But why is “redneck” an insult at all? What is wrong with being “country” or rural, or doing any of the things that are stereotypically labeled as “redneck”? My (former, now retired) coal-miner, Southern Baptist, hunting, rabid Republican, born and raised in WV uncle would probably be considered a “redneck” by anyone’s standards (hell, so would I, so would my dad for that matter), but he is a wonderful man who loves his family and is a good person. How dare anyone try and marginalize him, or anyone, simply because they don’t live on either coast, eat sushi, or work in “the industry”? We cannot stereotype ANYONE any more, and that should extend to rednecks as well. You cannot group all rednecks together any more than you can lump all blacks/hispanics/etc together. It’s wrong and hurtful and the focus should be on stopping THAT, not deflecting the problem by saying “Well, there’s rednecks everywhere, not just the South”. Just my $0.02
“As for Pink, herself, I’m not really sure what I think about her. I’ve heard her lauded as being so intelligent and beautiful, as well as talented, but I’m having a really difficult time seeing it. I’m open, though. Hmmm…”
THe only reason is that she isn’t like the ‘typical’ pop star. AS usual, bashing Britney is the way to go and as for the bigotry against Southerners, I am sick of it too. It’s not like Pink is out there, contirbuting merrily to the sciences, farming, technologiy, medicine, and our military like Southerners have for generations before Pink was even a Zygote. Besides, has William even gone fox hunting since the ban. It’s not like foxes are these harmless critters like bunny rabbits.
Until these vapid starlets and pop ‘singers’ actually contribute something, then they should be reminded of how they do not contribute anything of substance and have no business acting as if they are people who have any right lecturing decent people about anything.
Oh, and like Pink should even talk? She’s from Pennsylvania, which IMO is the ONE state chock full of just plain weird ass mofos (although Michigan is also weird from what I’ve seen but never been there in person so idk). I’ve seen more stereotypical “rednecks” there than I’ve ever seen anywhere in the South, but it’s a Northern state! So Leticia, you are right, and I hope you don’t take my comment as an attack because that’s not how I meant it. But I think Pink should just STFU. I always liked her, but now I will not support ANYTHING she does. I hope the other “rednecks” do the same, then maybe she’ll think twice before she says stupid sh*t like that in the future.
@ snowball – Wow, I’ve never heard that one, bizarre. I grew up in the South. “Rednecks” were outdoor laborers whose necks stayed sunburned from bending over, working in the sun, farming, etc. Now it just means somebody from the country that talks or acts uncultured to the listener (which puts the bar on that all over the place, since everybody’s got their own opinion of what is cultured and what is “okay”). Rednecks are not relegated to “the South” anymore. And plenty of rednecks from the North do a hell of a lot of hunting too.
One thing that makes me spew coffee all over, is the visual of a Stella McCartney-designed Queen’s Guard hat. The woman couldn’t design an attractive doormat, much less replace an historic uniform design for the UK. Gimme a break. They should just use fake fur and keep the usual basket design. It looks good.
I wonder if Pink has stopped wearing LEATHER altogether?
Also, Team Tiki! I was a daughter of the Navy, and was born in New York and lived in New Jersey and Rhode Island for a few years until we moved to Georgia. While the north has got its wonderful attributes, the South rules!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck
We’re all right. 🙂 And then there are more.
I disagree that most people think that the only group it’s okay to stereotype are white, rural Christians. How many stereotypes are propagated daily about blacks, asians, jews, and hispanics? In the melting pot that is America, no one is exempt from being stereotyped, mocked, or misunderstood. All over the country we make sweeping generalizations about New Yorkers, Texans, and Californians for a variety of reasons, so why should the South be exempt?
And at the end of the day, it’s Pink, who makes a career of making controversial statements and takes glee in insulting and offending people because she thinks she’s a badass. It stopped being cute a few years ago and if you have to continually say that you’re a badass, people will eventually realize you’re not.
Just becuase she wants to be such a self rightious snotty bitch about it i change my opinion about fox hunting. i support killing all animals merciously now. all for sport in the most unfair way possible. not even when i’m hungry. geaux fox hunters!!
Fox hunting was banned five years ago – so the battle is effectively over. There are those who flout it but the government, who has the power, not the Royals, whatever their personal whims may be, have the final say. The Royals are little more than figureheads to attract tourists, targeting them for their old fashioned poshy ways is a bit irrelevent. Sadly many farmers now resort to traps which are even more agonizing for the fox than being hunted by dogs, the fact is they are seen as murderous pests in the countryside and nothing a well meaning dim witted pop star says will change that. If she wants to help she should petition the British government to have stricter punishments on those caught using illegal traps.
Pink is right on this. They brutally torture these foxes, having groups of dogs and men on horseback giving chase while the dogs tear the foxes into shreds. And this is for “fun.”
The entire Royal Family has a feverish hatred for little animals. I remember one of them was caught on camera beating a hunting dog with a stick.
Sick bastards.
I probably shouldn’t be because of who said it, but I AM from the South (Mississippi) and I AM deeply offended. I am also sure that Pink is going to read this and directly apologize. I am also holding my breath…
@ snowball, wow, interesting. I had no clue there were so many origins of that. crazy. Being mainly in the south, I only knew about the one. After a quick search, avoiding wikipedia, I still can’t find an older proven usage than “field worker in the southern US”.
I have to say, I’ve had to explain several times outside the US and even up north, what it means because it isn’t widely used outside the South US anyway. I still don’t think it’s derogatory, because I know quite a lot of guys who proudly refer to themselves as a redneck, and none of them hunt or spit on the floor. Most of my redneck friends are musicians.
Anyway, back on topic, fox hunting is disgusting and seems even worse than bullfighting.
fox is a tiny helpless creature that darts and hides behind bushes, when hunted it becomes confused and runs around in circles, fox is more related to cat then a dog…
The Royal Family should have stopped this cruel practice many years ego, Pink is absolutely correct..
@ Lisa, they did ban fox hunting several years ago in the UK.
It is now and has been illegal since about 2004.
Way to go Pink!
Is NO ONE going to mention his toupee?!
ha ha!! good call zelda. didn’t notice it
“It’s not like Pink is this thespian herself.” No, you’re right, Sakota, Pink isn’t an actress.
Pink’s rant would make more sense if it came a few years ago. Has she any reason to think that William’s been fox hunting since it was banned?
She’s right they are, all royals are imbred morons, that don’t even roll their own tooth paste onto their toothbrushes. Not kidding, that’s what the personal butler is for.
I can’t believe some people haven’t heard of redneck!
See the movie Deliverance, classic!
The overall wearing, tobacco chewin’, toothless, weird talking, brother married to sister, still screwin’ ma type!!!
Why is a redneck murder so hard to solve?
Cos there’s never any dental records and their DNA is all the same!!!
Just like the royal bludgers, that sponge off us, just cos of their imbred bloodlines.
who said they never heard of a redneck?
“It’s not like Pink is this thespian herself.” No, you’re right, Sakota, Pink isn’t an actress.
Pink’s rant would make more sense if it came a few years ago. Has she any reason to think that William’s been fox hunting since it was banned?”
I heard she complained that she didn’t get an answer from him or his office despite the fact that she sent that blasting letter. I am so sick of these celebs with too much time on their hands.
”
In the past, Pink also has sent a letter to William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, protesting the use of bearskin hats on her guards.
“I actually proposed a plan,” the 30-year-old singer went on to say. “Stella McCartney had designed these replacement hats for the guards using fake fur. I felt we were solving the problem for her and offering a viable solution.
But she never wrote back. Maybe she doesn’t have any of my stuff on her iPod.””
What is her damage? The Queen of England has more important things on her mind than answering some dolt pop star who is picking away at stuff that is none of her business. If HM doesn’t listen to her music, then obviously that’s her choice.
I think Pink is deliberately being a jerk, just to get a reaction. It’s what they all do. Thirty years old and acting like some teenybopper starlet on her way up the ladder.
Pink has always seemed like an aggressive prick to me, and this story seems to fall in line with that. WTF did she think she was doing writing to royalty like that? Did she really think Prince William was going to be all like “OMG Pink wants me to stop hunting foxes so I will!”
He probably doesn’t even know who she is. I can’t remember the last time she was relevant, so I have to imagine she did this just for the publicity. What a fucking idiot. I mean, I don’t like the fox hunting anymore than she does, but at least I’m not concieted enough to seriously believe my writing a letter is going to fix anything.
She really is a disrespectful idiot.
Oops! Poor Pink just made a fool out of herself – again. Pink, you’re the “stuffy, privileged a–hole”.
What a nutcase. And duh, Harry’s the one with the big guns.
PS: Please, do not procreate. Thank you.
This is what I find annoying about pop stars. Once their ego ascends, they think they can speak on every issue, even if the person hunts within their OWN (yes, I’ll write that in capitals) estate.
I don’t see Prince William commenting, off hand, about her ugly choices of tattoos and their hideous placement (she resembles a jailbird).
Pink, just stick to what you do and keep your nose out of other people’s business.
“How dare anyone try and marginalize him, or anyone, simply because they don’t live on either coast, eat sushi, or work in “the industry”?
Oh…the irony…
I resent the profiling. I’m from the south and happy to be a redneck(a Mississippi redneck at that). Although I am sorry to tell you that we don’t have any guns in our house. Sorry to shoot down your redneck impression. pun intended.
I am so sick of the negative connotations that Pink and her celeb buddies have towards rednecks and Southerners in general. It’s not like these people are the flower of our intellectual elite and are solving the world’s problems. A lot of those “rednecks” that she eagerly looks down on are serving in our armed forces and protecting that dolt’s way of life.
Does she really think that a jihadi would let her and her friends live if they took over? They would be the first ones stoned!
Pink is so racist! Way to stereotype an entire segment of the population idiot!
I’m against fur too, but her “Stop killing animals for their hides” sounds funny coming from someone with such an appreciation for leather. Some people just like to hear themselves talk.
I’m not entirely clear on why she thinks the Prince of England would be very invested in what one American singer thinks of him. I guess it’s the celebrity self-importance disorder again… “I’m famous, therefore everyone wants/needs to know what I think about everything.”
I just saw a photo of Jedward and Pink looks like both of them, with makeup on.
Pink is a slut from the north.
Sakota
As an actor with degrees in economics and engineering I find your comments shamefully ignorant and small-minded. What do you mean “contribute to society”? Art contributes immensely to society. When’s the last time you were inspired by a lawyer or accountant? When has astrophysics ever moved your soul?? Stop trying to sound intelligent. It’s not working.
Pink should think of kids (people)when she does rude videos..more important than the fox,double std
I am saddened and disgusted by anyone who hunts. It lowers my opinion of them immediately, and quite frankly I don’t see how they can possibly have a heart or a soul if they can shoot a defenseless animal.
Besides, it’s gutless. Give the animal a weapon and see how well you do. Or if you are even brave enough to try in a fair fight.
“But she never wrote back(queen elizabeth). Maybe she doesn’t have any of my stuff on her iPod.”
HAHAHA…i just love her sarcastic sense of humor. I don’t think she was discriminating by saying “redneck from the south”…she was probably just comparing the old tradition of hunting carried on till today in the South to the royal family’s fox hunting.
But I did hear that one of the secretary? of the royal guards got back to her and that they tried the synthetic hats by Stella McCartney but it didn’t last long/was not durable.