Below, please find a statement from PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange on the death of Paul Reubens:

Just as Pee-wee raced into a burning building to rescue dozens of animals in his Big Adventure, Paul Reubens was a real-life friend to individuals of all species. From auctioning off his time in support of PETA’s lifesaving work to starring in a PETA campaign celebrating Pee-wee’s favorite vegan candies, he used his inimitable talents to promote compassion to animals as only he could. He was our friend and our favorite rebel, and the world will be a little less joyful without him.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.