PETA speak out on protesting Pharrell Williams’ LEGO movie: “Stop being complicit in cruelty”

27 October, 2024

Animal rights group PETA have spoken out about their protest against Pharrell Willliams’ LEGO biopic, calling on him to stop being “complicit in cruelty”.

Last Sunday, the closing night gala screening at the London Film Festival of Piece By Piece, a LEGO animated biopic about the life of Williams, was disrupted by protesters from the campaigning group.

The PETA representatives unfurled a banner at the screening that read: “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals For Fashion”, in reference to the musician’s role as the men’s creative director of fashion house Louis Vuitton.

“Shame on you, Pharrell. Animals are skinned alive and tortured,” one protester shouted from the balcony of the concert hall.

Now, PETA have expanded on the specifics of their protest against the ‘Happy’ singer. The organisation’s senior campaigns manager Kate Werner has said in a press release: “While Pharrell’s life story is told in this navel-gazing film, animals are confined in filth on farms before their heads are bashed in and their skin is ripped off while they’re still conscious – all so pieces of their bodies can be made into Louis Vuitton’s fleeting fashion pieces.”

“PETA is calling on Pharrell to use his power for good, stop being complicit in cruelty, and push Louis Vuitton into the 21st century by refusing to use wild-animal skins and fur.”

Williams did respond to the protest at the time. Speaking in a hushed voice due to laryngitis, he said: “God bless you. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the changes that they see, they don’t happen overnight.

“It takes a lot of planning and we are working out those things. They wanted to be heard so we heard them.”

A similar incident happened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last month when a protester also interrupted that screening.

Speaking about that protest at the time, Williams said: “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.

“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 have responded to Williams’ claims, saying, “dropping these cruelly derived materials is something he could do in a heartbeat, and so far, nothing has changed.” They also note that other major designers, including Mulberry, Victoria Beckham, Chanel, Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg and Vivienne Westwood, have banned using animal skins in their fashion houses.

Piece By Piece is currently airing in cinemas in the US and it is out in the UK on November 8. The film was directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville and features cameos from Daft Punk, Gwen Stefani, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and more.

In an interview with NME over the 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.

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