Diane Warren, 68, has adopted the runaway West Hollywood piglet that went viral over the weekend.
The Grammy-winning songwriter’s representative, Marcia Zwilling, confirmed Thursday morning that Warren took in the black-and-white pig after seeing footage of his Aug. 15 dash through the neighborhood. Zwilling attended the adoption process and brought Wilbur to his new home.
“Diane saw the news clips and saw the little pig running in West Hollywood and she just called me and said, please get the pig, get the pig,” Zwilling said.
Zwilling said the pig will live at a sanctuary where he will have “gourmet salads every day, beautiful acreage, other friends, other animals, it’s going to have an amazing life and grow up, you know, to be a very, very, very happy pig.”
LA Animal Services had warned that if multiple people wanted Wilbur, officials would hold a Silent Auction, a process the agency described as providing “a fair and competitive way to determine the adopter without favoritism.” Warren’s intervention apparently headed off any bidding war.
The songwriter has long been vocal about animal causes. Her foundation’s mission statement dedicates resources to “animal rights & protection” and “Animal Shelter Relief,” according to its website.
This is not the first time Warren has stepped in for a runaway farm animal. In 2021, she helped arrange the relocation of the last loose cow from a group of about 40 that escaped from a slaughterhouse in Pico Rivera. The Pico Rivera city manager said at the time that Warren planned to have that animal relocated to Farm Sanctuary in Acton.
In the viral moment that started it all, Wilbur was spotted racing down Hayworth Avenue on Saturday as at least three people attempted to corner and capture him. Video of the chase spread quickly online, with viewers dubbing the piglet “Wilbur” as he evaded would-be rescuers. The footage turned the small pig into a local celebrity by the time LA Animal Services took him into custody.
Warren’s catalog includes nine number-one songs and 32 top-10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with credits spanning “Un-Break My Heart” for Toni Braxton, “Because You Loved Me” for Celine Dion, and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” for Aerosmith. She received an honorary Oscar in 2022 after 13 competitive nominations.
Wilbur’s new home is a multi-acre animal rescue ranch.