Pharrell Williams‘ star-studded Olympics party in Paris on July 25 was disrupted by animal rights protesters.
The musician-turned-fashion designer hosted a glittering event for Louis Vuitton at the brand’s headquarters in the French capital on the eve of the launch of the 2024 Olympic Games in the city on July 26. At the Prelude To The Olympics bash, two activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, interrupted the festivities. They held up signs that urged the designer to cease the use of animal skins in his company’s products.
“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 Vice President of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor said of the protest.
“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,” she stated.
The protesters held up signs emblazoned with the words “Pharrell: Stop Killing Animals for Fashion” before they were taken away by security guards. The event — held at the Louis Vuitton Foundation — was attended by stars including Charlize Theron, Zendaya, Snoop Dogg and Serena Williams.
Williams has been Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director since last year. He previously incurred the wrath of PETA by creating a $1 million made-to-order crocodile-skin bag.
PETA’s U.S. Senior Vice President Lisa Lange invited the musician to tour a crocodile factory farm to see how the creatures are treated prior to slaughter.
“We’d like to invite you on a less-than-luxurious tour of a filthy — for that’s what they are — crocodile factory farm with us to see the living origins of your ‘Millionaire’ bag,” Lange said.
“You’d want to bring along nose plugs and high boots to wade through fetid, waste-filled water,” she continued. “If we go to an indoor tank, also bring a flashlight, because you won’t see daylight. There are no blurred lines here. Killing wildlife for a bag isn’t cool — it’s cold.”
