South Dakota Ranchers Fired Up About ... Joan Jett

Joan Jett may love rock 'n' roll, but she does not love meat—a stance that has resulted in a very strange controversy in South Dakota. Tourism Secretary Jim Hagen chose Jett as the star of the state's Mount Rushmore float in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving parade, and South Dakota ranchers are not happy about it, the Rapid City Journal reports. Jett has appeared in PETA campaigns for vegetarianism, and that "agenda ... does not represent South Dakota," which is a very agricultural state, says one rancher who also happens to be a state senator.

PETA "is obviously very anti-ag," he adds. "They are very misinformed on the ag industry and the animal ag industry." The South Dakota Cattlemen's Association is also "very concerned" about Jett's role, the executive director says; the AP reports that the organization's president called it a "huge blunder." But Hagen says Macy's actually selected Jett after the celebrities the state suggested were unavailable. Jett "holds views that I don't, but there are a lot of people who love her as an artist," he adds. "It puts the focus on Mount Rushmore and South Dakota." (More Joan Jett stories.)