Animal rights organization PETA has penned an open letter to Hot Ones host Sean Evans, asking the entertainer to switch from real chicken wings to a vegan alternative.
Hot Ones is one of the most famous talk shows on the internet. Founded and hosted by Sean Evans, it has welcomed high-profile guests like music artist SZA, actress Margot Robbie, talk show host Conan O’Brien, and many more.
The premise of the show tasks its guests with eating through an increasingly spicy menu of hot sauces slathered onto chicken wings as they answer questions from Evans, who is known for his deep cuts and extensive research.
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The Hot Ones brand has become a household name, and the show even has its own hot sauce sets that viewers can buy to try out the challenge themselves as if they were a guest on the show… but PETA wants the production to change one of its core features.
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PETA offers to name chickens after Sean Evans if Hot Ones goes vegan
On September 11, 2025, PETA’s senior officer of celebrity relations, Nicole Cummins, published a letter to Sean Evans that was shared with Dexerto, in which she urged him to start using vegan wings instead of real chicken.
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“You’ve sat across from some of the biggest names in the world as their eyes watered and their voices cracked from the heat. But nothing on Hot Ones comes close to what chickens endure before ending up on a plate, so we’ve got a hot tip for you: make vegan wings the default,” Cummins wrote.
“We promise neither your guests nor your viewers will notice the change. But you know who would? Chickens. After all, the only ones who should be suffering for the sake of the show are the guests braving your sauces, not the birds.”
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First We Feast / Hot OnesHot Ones is taking heat from PETA, who are demanding the host of the viral talk show use vegan chicken wings.
After giving a graphic description of modern chicken farms, PETA even agreed to name two chickens after Hot One’s host — one Sean, and the other Evan, promising to “send photos of them living safe, happy lives far from the meat industry.”
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Thus far, Evans has not offered a public response, but he isn’t the first to get blindsided by a request from PETA. In fact, the organization is known for going after major brands and celebrities with head-scratching campaigns.
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In April 2025, PETA took aim at YouTube star MrBeast over his participation in the ‘100 men vs 1 gorilla‘ meme, urging him to “leave animals out of his content” after he joked about making a video testing the viral conundrum.
100 men vs. a gorilla? Maybe try 100 reasons to leave animals out of your content instead…
— PETA (@peta) April 28, 2025
And in August that same year, PETA went after Nintendo, taking issue with Cow’s nose ring in Mario Kart World and asking the game company to let the character “race free.”