Alan Cumming has been painting with his lifelong chimpanzee best friend.
The Emmy-winning host of “The Traitors” has reportedly collaborated on an abstract painting with Tonka, a primate who stars on HBO’s “Chimp Crazy.” Cumming and Tonka, who became close friends when they starred in the 1997 comedy “Buddy,” used the colors of the royal standard of Scotland, the actor’s homeland, for the piece that is being auctioned off on Charitybuzz.
“I painted and signed the base coat bright yellow, and Tonka used a vivid red to add brush strokes, an homage to the Scottish Lion Rampant,” Cumming told Page Six.
“We chose a non-toxic brand because Tonka loves testing the paint as part of the process,” she added.
The money raised by the painting will benefit the Save the Chimps sanctuary. If the duo is lucky, perhaps chimpanzee art fans like Pink, who once spent $5,000 on a chimp painting, will snap it up. Joaquin Phoenix’s collaboration with Rooney the ape and Save The Chimp Gallery sold for $10,000 at the New York Art Expo this spring.
According to one source, the Cumming and Tonka piece is expected to fetch at least that much before the auction closes on Oct. 1. After all, Cumming just won two Emmys on Sunday and Tonka is the star of a hit HBO documentary. Bidding has already surpassed $2,000 since it opened on Tuesday.
Cumming and Tonka's relationship goes back almost three decades. The duo first starred in the film.
In 2022, Tonka went missing for months and the “Cabaret” star and PETA offered a $20,000 reward to anyone who could find their missing animal friend.
“Over the months we filmed together, baby Tonka and I became good friends, playing, grooming each other and generally joking around,” Cumming said at the time.
“It's horrifying to think he could be in a cage in a dark basement somewhere or have met another fate, so I'm appealing to anyone who knows what has become of him to come forward and claim the reward,” she said.
Tonka was later found and sent to Save the Chimps in Florida, where he currently lives with over 200 rescued chimpanzees. The winner of the auction of Cumming and Tonka's artwork will receive a VIP visit to Tonka's home In addition to the signed painting.
