Pharrell Williams’ LEGO animated biopic premieres at Toronto Film Festival little by little On Tuesday night (September 10), a Q&A session following the screening of the film was interrupted when an animal rights protester rushed onto the stage.
The unnamed woman ran on stage at the Princess of Wales Theater waving a sign that read: “Pharrell stops supporting the killing of animals for fashion,” and condemned the singer for her role as a Louis Vuitton man The creative director of the collection uses wild animal fur. Williams was appointed creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear in February 2023. The security guard jumped to the floor in front of the stage.
“You know what? You’re right,” he says in the video as she continues to protest, repeatedly telling her “You’re right… God bless you,” as the crowd erupts in applause. “That’s okay. Give her a big round of applause,” Williams added, encouraging the audience to repeat “God bless you” as security escorted the woman out of the auditorium.
After being fired, Williams took some time to voice her protest, saying: “You know, Rome wasn’t built in a day and sometimes when you plan to change things and situations, you have to gain power and influence. Here you are Can change people’s minds and help progress.
He then seemed to suggest that protesting wasn’t the best way to effect change in the fashion industry, while hinting that he was already trying to turn things around behind the scenes. “That’s not necessarily the way to do it, and sitting in my seat, when I have conversations on behalf of an organization like this, what they don’t know is they’re doing themselves a disservice by coming here,” he said. “It doesn’t matter, when change happens, everyone in this room will remember that I told you we were actually working on this. If she had asked me, I would have told her. But instead, she wanted to repeat herself.
In an Instagram post about the hiatus, PETA wrote: “We crashed @pharrell’s @piecebypiecefilm premiere at @tiff_net to remind @louisvuitton menswear creative director of the suffering animals suffer for fur and wildlife pelts. Do the right thing and switch to artificial vegan alternatives now!
Back in June 2023, PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman issued a statement regarding Williams’ use of fur in the fashion house’s then-new collection. “Instead of becoming the creative innovator that Louis Vuitton desperately needs to stay relevant, Pharrell Williams is debuting a collection that belongs in a history museum. Animals are tortured and killed to obtain their Pieces of body parts alienate today’s socially conscious consumers, who are driving demand for luxury vegan materials that bring peace of mind to animals if they are mutilated, says Williams. happyPETA hopes his tenure at Louis Vuitton will be as short-lived as the animals who suffered as a result of his poor fashion sense.
The animal rights group said at the time that it had written to Williams urging him to ban fur and reptile skins while he was at Louis Vuitton, and shared a link to a PETA Asia survey that claimed ” There is rampant animal cruelty in factories that supply Louis Vuitton.” Parent company LVMH,” which includes graphic descriptions of the way the company’s employees treat alligators.
Lehman said in a statement after the TIFF hiatus that the organization wanted to stop interfering with Williams’ appearances, “but despite all his rhetoric, he has not yet given up on furs and exotic leathers. Today, Farrell can decide immediately Use your power to do good and stop participating in cruelty – kindness is easy.
hollywood reporter PETA activists are also reportedly protesting media and industry screenings of the Morgan Neville-directed film, which also features the voices of the 13-time Grammy winner’s past collaborators , including Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes and Jay- Z.
The film, which features two new songs by Pharrell, will be released on October 11.
Check out PETA’s video of the incident below.
