Pharrell Williams has responded to a PETA protester who invaded a screening of his upcoming biopic, Piece By Piece.
Last Tuesday (September 10), Williams showed his highly-anticipated biopic at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). At the event, an animal rights activist on behalf of PETA interrupted the festivities and held a sign that read: “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals for Fashion” – referring to his role as the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton.
She also shouted: “Your Louis Vuitton collection… Pharrell’s collection is made from their blood. Pharrell stop torturing animals! Ostriches are being hung upside down, electrocuted with their necks slit!”
Between her shouts, Williams said: “You know what, you’re right […] God bless you.” He then encouraged the audience to echo his sentiment. Once security escorted the woman off the premises, Pharrell responded to her claims.
@iheartradioca @Pharrell addressed a protestor that came out after the premiere of his new film at TIFF #piecebypiece #pharrell #peta
“You know what? Just let me address that: Rome wasn’t made in a day. And sometimes, when you have plans to change things and situations, you have to get in a situation of power and of influence where you can change people’s minds and help progression,” he began.
Speaking about the protest, Williams said: “That’s not necessarily the way to do it. Sitting in my position, when I have conversations on behalf of organisations like that unbeknownst to them, they come out here and do a disservice.
“That’s OK. When that change comes, everyone in this room will remember that I told you we’re actually working on that. And if she would’ve just asked me, I would’ve told her. But instead, she wanted to repeat herself.”
PETA posted a video of the protest on X/Twitter, writing: “We CRASHED Pharell’s [Piece By Piece] premiere at [TIFF] to remind the Louis Vuitton men’s creative director that animals suffer for fur & wildlife skins. Do the right thing and switch to faux & vegan alternatives NOW!”
You can see the post below.
We CRASHED @Pharrell’s @pbpthemovie premiere at @TIFF_NET to remind the @LouisVuitton men’s creative director that animals suffer for fur & wildlife skins.
Do the right thing and switch to faux & vegan alternatives NOW! pic.twitter.com/Uf5mb1nly9
— PETA (@peta) September 10, 2024
In an official statement issued to Variety, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman responded to Pharrell: “We would be happy to stop disrupting Pharrell’s appearances but despite a lot of lip service, he’s yet to ditch fur and exotic skins. Pharrell can decide in a heartbeat, today, to use his power for good and stop being complicit in cruelty—it’s quite easy to be kind.”
Piece By Piece is set to hit cinemas on October 11 in the US, and the UK on November 8. The film was directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville and will have cameos from Daft Punk, Gwen Stefani, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and more.
In an interview with NME this summer, Williams explained how the movie was an “amazing experience of history for me”.
He also praised Neville for executing his vision: “I can’t tell you how humbled I am to have this masterful storyteller really make sense of my life. It has always been all over the place and made sense to me but not to most. He was able to do it in colour, vividly – brick by brick, piece by piece.”
Williams recently shared the first song from the Piece By Piece soundtrack. The funky jazz-inspired track features the Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers – from the high school Williams himself attended.
