Kyle reported back in February that PETA was awarding Aretha Franklin with the distinguished title of Worst Dressed Celebrity in 2008. In a follow up to that tasty bit of news, I read today that PETA is offering the Queen of Soul a way to redeem herself in the eyes of the fur-hating masses.

It seems that Aretha has run into some hard times, financially speaking, and she's let her $700,000 Detroit home go into foreclosure. When PETA heard about this, they jumped at the chance to play the hero and offered to pay the $19,000 in back taxes on the property. There is one condition though: Aretha has to promise that she will never wear fur again. Read PETA's letter to Ms. Franklin here.



You've kinda got to wonder, would it really be worth it? $19K is a lot of money, but for some people, fur -- not cotton -- is the fabric of their lives. And judging by the shear number of photos I've seen of Aretha wearing dead animals, I'd say she might be one of those types. Plus, how humiliating would it be to accept the money from PETA after they've totally ridiculed you in public? There's no respect in that, to be sure.

No, I'm guessing that Aretha is going to have to pass -- at least I hope she will. Personally, I think PETA's a little out of line here, adding insult to injury by making Aretha's foreclosure part of a PETA publicity stunt. I kind of hope that she does a 'help Aretha save her house' benefit concert and brings out a new fur coat for each song. That'd be hilarious!