Pharrell had a screening of his new biopic Piece By Piece at the Toronto International Film Festival yesterday (September 10), but the proceedings were interrupted by a PETA protestor. But, why?
Why Is PETA Protesting Pharrell?
Since early 2023, Pharrell has been the Men’s Creative Director for Louis Vuitton. After the screening incident, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman issued a statement after the incident, saying, “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.”
The statement also notes the protestor “blasted” Pharrell “for his disgraceful use of wild-animal skins and fur.”
After the protester was removed from the screening, Pharrell said to the audience:
“Let me address that. You know, Rome wasn’t made in a day, and sometimes when you have plans to change things and situations, you have to get in a position of power and of influence, where you can change people’s minds progression. That’s not necessarily the way to do it, and sitting in my position, when I have conversations on behalf of organizations like that, unbeknownst to them, they come out here and do themselves a disservice. That’s OK: When that change comes, everybody in this room, will remember that I told you we’re actually working on that, and if she would have just asked me, I would have told her. But instead, she wanted to repeat herself.”
