Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams, creative director of Louis Vuitton, was the target of a protest by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -- again -- on Tuesday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
While the credits rolled on his movie, "Piece by Piece" (a story about his life, told through Lego animation), Williams was handed a microphone. A woman then rushed the stage holding a poster that read "Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals for Fashion."
Williams' reaction was, to some, unexpected.
He told the security guards that "it's all right" as they rushed toward the young woman. Williams gave her his undivided attention and said, "Yes, you're right. God bless you."
His reaction was met with cheers from the crowd as the protester continued to yell. He then asked the crowd to give her a round of applause, which it did. As security guards carried the woman out of the theater, she continued to yell, "Pharrell, stop torturing animals."
Instead of trying to quietly move past the protest, Williams addressed it.
"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," Williams said to the audience. "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.
"That's OK. When that change comes, everybody in this room will remember that I told you we are actually working on that, and if she would have just asked me, I would have told her. But, instead, she wanted to repeat herself."
But according to PETA, the Norfolk-based animal rights organization that took credit online for the protest and had engaged in protests earlier in the festival, Williams' characterization of the situation is not entirely accurate.
"Before these protesters confronted him publicly, PETA repeatedly reached out to Pharrell privately and was met with only silence or empty promises," said Ashley Byrne, a director of outreach and communications for the group.
Byrne said PETA sent Williams materials to consider before his first collection with LVMH, which incorporated fur into some of its offerings.
"We are actually reaching out to Pharrell again," she said, "to reiterate what we have already said to him many times, which is that his response, it leaves us with more questions than answers."
Williams did not respond to a request for comment.
Animal rights protesters have long had a reputation of committing jarring acts to have their opinions heard. In June, an organization called the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade engaged in a coordinated protest against designer Marc Jacobs in which demonstrations were held at the homes of a dozen or so of his employees.
Using signs, noisemakers and fake blood, the protesters tried to force the designer to officially renounce the use of fur in his collections. Jacobs responded on Instagram, claiming that his brand "does not work in, use or sell fur, nor will we in the future." He also emphasized that he had not used fur in any of his own brand's collections since 2018.
PETA applauded that statement at the time, but it also responded by saying it would like to expand the cause and have the designer ban the use of leather, as well as exotic skins like python and ostrich.
"Anyone who watches the footage of animals being mutilated, tortured and killed inside these facilities will understand the urgency behind this campaign," Byrne said when asked about the methods of the organization's protests. "People can see for themselves whether it's Louis Vuitton or any other brand using snakeskin or fox fur, it means animals endured misery and a violent death for frivolous fashion."
As far as Williams' suggestion that he is working on it, that is not enough for PETA, she said.
"Working on it is not good enough," she said, "because it doesn't take work to make a decision to stop doing something that most designers have already stopped doing."