James Aspey

James Aspey (born 10 November 1986) is an Australian animal rights activist and vegan lecturer. He is best known for remaining silent for an entire year to raise awareness of animal cruelty in the food system.

Personal life James Aspey was born in Sydney, Australia. Aspey was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was 17, with his physicians telling him that he would live for just six weeks. However, he recovered and underwent chemotherapy for three years, during which time he started abusing drugs. Upon recovery, he became a personal trainer and started working on a cruise ship, travelling around the world giving lectures and hosting fitness classes on the ship. Seven years later, he tried becoming a vegetarian for a week on an experimental basis after having been told by an Indian traveler that "eating animals is bad karma". More analysis on vegetarianism eventually led him to veganism.

Animal rights advocacy Aspey traveled around Australia, writing a blog and cycling 5000 km from Darwin to Sydney "to raise awareness of the cruel ways in which humans currently exploit other animals for food, clothing, entertainment, and testing."

On 1 January 2014, Aspey pledged that he would not speak for 365 days as activism to protest and highlight animal cruelty. By 2017, he had given 150 free speeches.

In 2019, Aspey was a candidate for the Animal Justice Party in the New South Wales state election in the electorate of Heathcote, and was overseas from before his announcement, until after the election.