Filipino 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way star Mary De Nucciõ first made headlines for keeping her American fiancé on a tight leash, despite the fact that he lived thousands of miles away. Mary is now making headlines again for keeping a different primate on a tight leash — a chain to be exact.
Brandan and Mary have their own Facebook page, and they’ve posted numerous videos documenting their lives after Brandan made the move to the Philippines.
90 Day Fiance fans noticed in a couple of the videos that Mary and Brandan keep a monkey chained up at their house. The chain is secured around the monkey’s waist on one end. The other end is looped around a bamboo pole that runs from a column on the front porch to a tree in the front yard. The chain appears to be very short:
In a Facebook video titled “A NORMAL DAY,” Mary revealed that the Monkey’s name is Lucy (or perhaps Luci given that Mary’s grandmother is Lucia). “Our monkey’s named Lucy,” Mary said in the video as she fed her a small banana. “She’s very nice.”
Mary said in the video that she tried letting the monkey off her “leash” but “she didn’t like it.” She added that the monkey won’t go far and she loves it at their house.
The videos of the monkey chained up garnered some negative reactions in the comments and in the couple’s inbox.
In a leaked DM exchange with Brandan and Mary via their Facebook page, they were asked if the monkey had been set free. “We have set the monkey free before,” the response begins. “But people here are scared of the monkey and threatened to kill it so we put her back on a chain to keep her safe. Thanks for your support.”
Eventually, Brandan and Mary gave into the pressure and posted a rather cheerful YouTube video titled “We free the monkey.” The video included a link to the couple’s Paypal account.
The YouTube video was deleted shortly after posting, but there is still a video with the same title available as a reel on the couple’s Facebook page.
In the Facebook video, we don’t actually see the monkey being unchained, but we do see her after being set free. Initially, Lucy is seen hanging out on the street with a couple of dogs. Towards the end of the video, the monkey returns for some water before picking up an empty plastic bag of Surf detergent and chewing on it.
Below is a screen grab from the clip, along with a photo of a bag of Surf detergent. The bags aren’t identical, but it’s easy to see the logos are the same:
“Hey guys I hope you are happy and glad that we freed the monkey,” the video description read. “If you want donations for the monkey just send us to our Paypal.” Brandan and Mary added that the donations were “to buy her foods and things she needs.”
If helping out Lucy wasn’t enough motivation, Brandan and Mary stated in the video description that they would also “give shout out for all the donators.”
90 Day Fiance stars react to chained monkey
Brandan and Mary’s 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way co-star Statler Riley is a VERY outspoken animal rights activist, and she openly expressed her outrage at Brandan and Mary on Instagram.
Statler shared an Instagram story with a screen cap of a reddit post about Brandan and Mary deleting their “we free the monkey” YouTube video. “This level of sociopathy is beyond me,” Statler wrote.
More from Statler:
A chained animal cannot simply be released back into the wild. It likely has no clue how to survive after a life of suffering. It needed to be taken to a legitimate rescue. Then asking for money? These people are disgusting. May karma give them the life they deserve.
Statler followed with another Instagram story post about the video. “Sucks that nobody else on 90 Day will speak up about this,” she wrote. “What about you fans?”
Statler’s post was accompanied by a poll asking whether or not Brandan and Mary should be cancelled.
At least one other 90 Day Fiance cast member spoke up. Before the 90 Days Season 6 star Amanda Wilhelm shared Statler’s initial post in her own Instagram stories. “I agree with @_statler 💯,” Amanda wrote. “Disgusting behavior!”
Is it illegal to own a monkey in the Philippines? I researched this topic online and was unable to find a conclusive answer. There is a Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act that restricts ownership of exotic animals in the Philippines, but it is unclear if the type of monkey owned by Brandan and Mary (which I believe is a variety of macaque — likely a long-tailed macaque) is considered exotic.
If it is legal to own a monkey, there may also be laws about what you have to provide for the animal. If so, I can’t imagine keeping them chained to a tree on a short chain would be OK.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
