Jason Momoa/InstagramJason Momoa has been accused of animal cruelty after he fed a grizzly bear an Oreo cookie while filming for his new Apple TV+ series.
The actor, who fights the 900-pound Kodiak brown bear in one episode, took to Instagram on Friday, November 1, to share a video of himself letting the animal eat food from his mouth.
However, social media users were quick to comment on the post accusing him of ‘animal abuse’ and demanding the bear be released into its natural environment.
‘Please educate yourself,’ one follower commented. ‘Having wildlife in cages is not cute, it’s ignorant and abusive… not cool! The poor bear…’
A second wrote:
Man, that bear should be in its natural environment. Disappointed, shouldn’t be using live animals.
In the 20-second clip, which was filmed from inside the animal’s pen, Momoa was given an Oreo cookie which he put in his mouth.
Apple TV+Crouching down, he uttered ‘alright’ after the animal’s trainer warned him that the bear would come in ‘quick’.
And the trainer wasn’t lying, as the bear was almost immediately face-to-face with the Aquaman star and reaching in for the cookie.
Momoa burst out laughing and wiped away the saliva that the bear had left on his face.
Sharing the clip on Instagram, the actor wrote:
The things we do for our ART.
SEE. Is out. Please watch on Apple TV+. The bear needs to know your scent. So here’s my cookie kisses big guy.
He finished off by addressing the bear, writing, ‘Love you tag. Aloha Baba Voss.’
Apple TV+Momoa recently spoke about his character, who is blind in the series, fighting Tag The Bear in the second episode.
He told The Ellen DeGeneres Show:
There’s no CGI on that one. That’s officially a 900-pound bear. It has to get to know you.
The Hawaiian star admitted he was frightened to do stunts with the bear, telling Ellen the trainer had reassured him it would be fine.
He then joked about how the headlines would read if something awful had happened, joking, ‘Jason Momoa died today. He got his face ripped off by a bear. How? He had a cookie in his mouth. I mean it doesn’t make any sense.’
See is set 100 years in the future after a deadly virus wiped out a huge chunk of humankind and blinded those who survived.
Momoa’s character Baba Voss is the father of twins who are born with sight, a sense that is considered mythical and dangerous in this post-apocalyptic world.
See launched on Apple TV+ yesterday (November 1).
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.