Pharrell Williams‘ London screening of Piece By Piece was disrupted tonight (October 20) by a group of animal rights protesters.
The incident took place during the closing night gala of the capital’s Film Festival at the Royal Festival Hall ahead of the screening of the biopic, when the protesters – representing animal rights activist group PETA – unfurled a banner that read: “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals For Fashion” – referring to his role as the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton.
“Shame on you, Pharrell. Animals are skinned alive and tortured,” one protester shouted from the balcony of the concert hall.
The protesters specifically called out Williams’ work as Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director, saying: “Stop the torture, stop the pain, LVMH you are to blame.” They also chanted, “Animals want to live – just like us” and “Animals are not fabrics, they’re not handbags…Fashion is violence.”
Williams, who was battling laryngitis, responded in a hushed voice: “God bless you. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the changes that they see, they don’t happen overnight.
The moment animal rights protesters disrupted Pharell William as he was about to talk about his animated biopic “Piece by Piece” before its UK premier at the @BFI #LFF closing gala at Festival Hall tonight
If you’re a @Pharrell fan or even if you’re not, the film is a must see https://t.co/8xpyZdE7wJ pic.twitter.com/RjNPcjRvxf
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) October 20, 2024
“It takes a lot of planning and we are working out those things. They wanted to be heard so we heard them.”
Security eventually asked the protesters to leave and then escorted the them out of the auditorium, according to a representative for the British Film Institute (via Variety).
NME has reached out to PETA UK for further comment.
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 later posted a video of that protest while an official statement issued by PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman responding to Pharrell read: “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.”
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.