Pharrell has repeatedly been the target of animal rights activists for utilizing fur and wild animal skins in his work with Louis Vuitton. Just last week, he was accosted by a mob of angry protesters while leaving the GQ Men Of The Year party in Los Angeles.
On Thursday, November 14, at least 3 animal rights activists banded to hurl abuse and insult at Louis Vuitton's menswear creative director. One person yelled:
"What you’re doing is wrong! You know that what you’re doing is wrong!"
Pharrell Williams promises to make the change, says it will come one day
When the actor tried to hug a man wearing a ‘Defend Animals’ hat, he reacted with even more rage, calling Williams an "animal abuser." He went on to chant, saying, "Shame on Pharrell for supporting the fur industry!" However, Pharrell reacted calmly, telling the man, “God bless you." However, the man went on:
"Look what you’re supporting! And you laugh about it!”
Others carried on, calling the singer a "loser” and “scumbag,” but Pharrell made his way to his vehicle and left.
Notably, this isn't the first time the singer was forced to incur the wrath of animal activists. Just last month, during a screening of his Piece by Piece movie at the London Film Festival, he was flanked by activists who hurled similar abuse at him. According to The Daily Mail, PETA Vice President Yvonne Taylor previously said in a statement:
"While Pharrell lives it up at celeb-filled soirées, the vulnerable animals sentenced to die for his 'fashion' choices languish in pain and filth on factory farms and at slaughterhouses, where they'll be hacked to bits or skinned alive. PETA is calling on Pharrell to stop being complicit in cruelty and help pull Louis Vuitton out of the dark ages by shunning the antiquated use of animal skins and fur."
Per an official statement on PETA's website, PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner said:
"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.”
The newsletter also mentions an investigation carried out by the agency into the slaughterhouses in Indonesia, where Louis Vuitton sources its hides. Reportedly, findings indicate that snakes were being abused with hammers, pumped up with water, and "cut with razors while they were likely still conscious."
The news letter goes on:
"PETA entities have also documented how workers in the fashion industry hack at crocodiles’ necks and shove metal rods down their spines, chop off conscious lizards’ heads with machetes, and electrically stun ostriches before slitting their throats in full view of their terrified flockmates. Animals raised and killed for fur are confined to cramped, filthy cages before they’re electrocuted, bludgeoned, gassed, or even skinned alive."
At the screening, Williams responded to the insults and accusations. He said to the audience at the time:
"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 and help progression. That's not necessarily the way to do it. Sitting in my position, when I have conversations on behalf of organizations like that, unbeknown to them, they come out here and do themselves a disservice."
He went on to note that he's okay with it, and that when the change does come, "everybody in this room will remember that I told you we are actually working on that."
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PETA executive VP Tracy Reiman reflected on the incident in a statement, noting that they 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.”
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