Recently, the film A Dog's Purpose has been garnering controversy after a video was released that appeared to show a German shepherd struggling while being forced into water.
'A Dog's Purpose' Video Shows Terrified German Shepherd Forced to Film https://t.co/14o6CZqmPV
The video had PETA calling for a boycott of the film.
And on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday night, the film's star, Dennis Quaid, finally addressed the controversy, essentially saying that the video was edited in a misleading way.
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"Somebody did shoot some video, and then took that video and edited other pieces to it to make it look like a dog was abused on set," Quaid said.
Kimmel: "Why would they do that?"
Quaid: "Well, he held onto it for 15 months, until a week before the movie's coming out and then makes a storm about how the dog was abused. If the dog was abused, why didn't he raise something at the time?"
Kimmel: "You didn't see any dog abuse?"
Quaid: "No. I don't know, maybe it was a guy who was at the inauguration taking some video, as well."
"We've gotta get our fake news stories straight," Quaid continued.
To Entertainment Tonight, Quaid said: "My experience is that the animals were treated great. There was no animal abuse."
"That video, that someone took and sold for money and held on to for a year and a half until right before the film's coming out, does not tell the whole story. Because I've seen all the footage, and it's edited and manipulated. And I think it's a scam, to tell you the truth."
Earlier in the week, one of the producers of A Dog's Purpose, Gavin Polone, wrote a response of his own for The Hollywood Reporter, stating that the video was "highly misleading."
He also stated that what did take place on set that day was "absolutely INEXCUSABLE and should NEVER have happened," and laid some blame on the American Humane Association (AHA), the group hired to oversee the safety of animals on set.
Senior Vice President at PETA, Lisa Lange, issued a response to Polone's column, calling pointing fingers at the person who released the video a "cowardly response."
“Those who made the movie want it to succeed, but even the film’s producer, Gavin Polone, admitted that the incident should not have occurred, so for him to offer alternative facts about what countless people have now watched and condemned is a form of spin that even the best filmmaker couldn’t pull off,” Lange said in her statement. “Perhaps it’s easy to dismiss being submerged underwater when you’re not the one desperate for air, but for the dog, it was undeniably a terrifying experience. Blaming the whistleblower who filmed the ugly incident is a cheap and cowardly response. TMZ did a public service by releasing the footage.”