On Sunday (8.24) during the London Film Festival premiere of ‘Piece by Piece,’ Pharrell Williams‘s animated documentary was disrupted by animal rights protesters.
Prior to the film presentation inside the London’s Royal Festival Hall, protesters representing People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) unfurled a banner which read, “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals for Fashion.”
According to Variety, one demonstrator told the Louis Vuitton menswear creative director, “Shame on you, Pharrell. Animals are skinned alive and tortured,” after which the musician responded, “God bless you. The change we want to see won’t happen overnight.”
In a statement a British Film Institute (BFI) representative said the security guards asked the protesters to leave and then escorted them out of the hall, stating “We feel it was managed well and any attempt to remove them earlier would have exacerbated the problem.”
Not Pharrell’s first PETA encounter whilst on his Piece by Piece press tour, it was during its Toronto International Film Festival premiere in September that someone rushed the stage and yelled, “Pharrell’s collection is made from their blood! Pharrell stop torturing animals!”
At the time, the singer/songwriter told the audience that his team “are actually working on that,” adding “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.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Kevin Payravi