Stars Earn Stripes is only one episode old, but already has caused a stir! Archbishop Desmond Tutu and nine other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have come forward to call for NBC's show "glorifying war and armed violence" to be taken off the air.
Signing their hefty names to an open letter sent to NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt are Archbishop Desmond Tutu ; landmine and anti-personnel mines activist Jody Williams; Northern Irish peace activists Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire; Iranian human rights activist Dr. Shirin Ebadi; President Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor; Argentine pacifist and anti-war campaigner Adolfo Perez Esquivel; former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez; and indigenous Guatemalan rights campaigner Rigoberta Menchu.
These nine world-respected activists all agree Stars Earn Stripes, touted as paying homage to the military, does little to honor the troops — and, in fact, is a disservice to the public.
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In the open letter the group explained "it is our belief that this program pays homage to no one anywhere and continues and expands on an inglorious tradition of glorifying war and armed violence."
The letter continued, "Real war is down in the dirt deadly. People — military and civilians — die in ways that are anything but entertaining."
Celebrities caught in the Nobel Peace Prize winners vs. NBC pickle include Dean Cain, Laila Ali, Nick Lachey, Picabo Street, Todd Palin — and Jack Osbourne, though his beef with the network is over being let go from the show, allegedly because of his MS diagnosis!
Want a look at what Stars Earn Stripes is all about? Check out a clip from the first episode:
Stars Earn Stripes highlights