Why Is PETA Protesting Pharrell?

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.”