Rapper RZA Backs NYC Fur Ban As Council Speaker Hesitates

NEW YORK — RZA has gone from the 36 chambers to the Council chambers to push New York City to ban fur sales. The Brooklyn-born rapper of Wu-Tang Clan fame sent a letter to every City Council member Wednesday night expressing his support for a controversial bill to ban the sale of new fur apparel.

RZA's letter appeared to rebut criticism of the proposal from African-American clergy and advocates, who have cast the ban as an attack on a powerful symbol of black achievement and culture. The artist, whose real name is Robert Diggs, noted that 77 percent of black voters said they support the ban in a poll released earlier this month.

"Those who have expressed that animals must die by the dozens to demonstrate that we have 'made it' only show arrogance and represent regressive — not progressive — attitudes," wrote RZA, who is a vegan.

RZA is just one of several celebrities to back Council Speaker Corey Johnson's proposed fur sales ban. The actress Anjelica Huston, the singer Morrissey and "Project Runway" star Tim Gunn have also expressed support for the measure.

The rapper's letter was sent to Council members on the same day that Johnson, a Democrat, expressed some hesitation about the proposal, which has sparked intense debate between animal-rights activists and the fur industry. The bill got a committee hearing earlier this month.

"Maybe I should have thought more about this before I introduced it, 'cause I didn’t realize the amount of pushback that there would be," Johnson told reporters Wednesday.

Johnson said the bill aligns with his values as an "animal lover." He and its other supporters argue that it would beat back an industry that inhumanely kills animals just for their pelts.

But furriers and trade groups worry that it would kill jobs and harm small businesses in one of the world's major fashion capitals. Johnson said he was moved by some furriers' testimony and indicated that he may temper the bill with a long phase-in period and provisions for job training.

"I want to do this in a thoughtful, sensitive way and I want to do it to protect animals, but at the same time I also am sensitive to workers," Johnson said.

The fur business group FURNYC praised Johnson Wednesday for "rethinking" his proposal.

"The City Council has many important issues to solve, and infringing upon our personal, religious, and cultural rights are not among them," FURNYC spokesman Tim Grant said in a statement.