PETA activists protested a press screening for Piece by Piece, the animated documentary about singer, songwriter and record producer Pharrell Williams, on Saturday morning at the Toronto Film Festival.
The protesters brandished posters reading “Fur Is Dead” and “Pharrell: Stop Killing Animals for Fashion” as they urged Williams, who is also Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director, to stop using wild animal skins and furs in his collections.
PETA campaigner Amanda Brody told The Hollywood Reporter that Williams was ignoring animal welfare concerns by using real animal fur, and alligator and snake skins in his fashion collections. “PETA doesn’t want anyone to use any sort of animal skins or furs, because anytime anyone or a brand like Louis Vuitton uses anything stolen from an animal, it means the animal endured a miserable life and a painful death,” Brody argued.
She added that Williams is ignoring faux furs and skins as humane options. “Pharrell knows this and yet he’s still clinging to archaic, inhuman practices, instead of embracing cruelty-free innovations,” Brody said.
The animal rights activists stood outside the Scotiabank Theatre on Richmond Street, where the first press screening for Piece by Piece by director Morgan Neville was playing after a world premiere at Telluride.
In recent years, PETA activists held pickets at the Toronto Film Festival to protest fest sponsor Canada Goose for using real fur in its products, including cozy fur-lined jackets, until the company announced it would stop manufacturing its products with fur. Cruelty-free fabrics and faux furs are increasingly being adopted by other designers and clothing retailers as they embrace faux fur and animal-friendly fabrics.
Williams’ career as a singer and producer is told through LEGO pieces in Neville’s animated feature Piece by Piece, which includes the voices of Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z and recently opened Telluride.
