The animal rights group, Friends of Animals, announced that it is boycotting the upcoming Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street because of a scene with a chimpanzee.
The group feels that the chimpanzee, named Chance, has suffered serious psychological damage after being used in the film. According to Variety, Chance appears in an early scene in the film skating through the office in an office outfit as its Leonardo DiCaprio's character's pet.
The boycott is planned for the Tuesday red carpet premiere of the film in New York City. Friends of Animals will "confront" Scorsese and DiCaprio, writes the organization's New York director Edita Birnkrant.
Brinkrant says that the chimpanzee could be suffering from psychological damage as a result of the ape's early cruel circus training. She is also worried that Chance could down the road be unable to interact with other animals because of his work in Wolf.
One of the people portrayed in the movie, Danny Porush (played by Jonah Hill but under the name Donnie Azoff) doesn't feel the movie or book is all that close to what truly happened he told Mother Jones. "The book...is a distant relative of the truth, and the film is a distant relative of the book."
Though Scorsese shows a chimpanzee in the office, Porush denies that ever happened. "There was never a chimpanzee in the office." He added, "There were no animals in the office...I would also never abuse an animal in any way."
image: Paramount