Photo: Dan Bilzerian/Instagram
Dan Bilzerian, the social media celebrity known as the “King of Instagram,” is facing criticism from PETA for feeding a bear at a house party — but the social media star tells PEOPLE that he loves animals and doesn’t harm them for sport.
“Bears belong in the wild, not in captivity,” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange tells PEOPLE in a statement. “PETA is calling on authorities to throw the book at scofflaw animal exhibitor Steve Martin and the man who hired him for this dangerous stunt.”
But Bilzerian tells PEOPLE that he is an avid animal lover, and would never do anything to harm the bear.
“It’s pretty obvious I love animals,” he says. “I gave up hunting a long time ago. I’ve tweeted ‘you should only kill an animal if you are gonna eat it, and that trophy hunters obviously have small d—s.’ ”
“I appreciate people trying to stand up for animals,” he continues. “However, you’ve got people killing thousands of animals everyday for sport, torturing dogs in China and clubbing seals to death for fun. [PETA] wants to do the typical internet bandwagon on whatever is popular and come after me.”
Courtesy Dan Bilzerian
Additionally, Bilzerian says the bear was treated humanely during the party. “There were no electric fences,” he says. “There was no prodding the bear. I was feeding a very healthy, happy bear who was rescued at a young age.”
It’s not the first time that PETA and Bilzerian have locked horns. Earlier this year, PETA criticized the late Steve Irwin’s work with animals, prompting Bilzerian to tweet that they were being “disrespectful.”
source: people.com
