Pharrell Williams wants celebrities to “shut up” when it comes to politics. And already, people have a LOT of thoughts on that eyebrow-raising opinion!
In an interview published late last week with The Hollywood Reporter, the 51-year-old record producer was asked if he would allow either the Democratic or Republican parties to use his “music in their campaigns.” Pharrell’s response? He doesn’t “do politics.” And it gets worse from here. He also gets “annoyed sometimes” when celebrities throw their support behind candidates! WTF! The singer said:
“I don’t do politics. In fact, I get annoyed sometimes when I see celebrities trying to tell you [who to vote for]. There are celebrities that I respect that have an opinion, but not all of them. I’m one of them people [who says], ‘What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you.’”
That is not the case, at least when it comes to Taylor Swift. Fans demanded that she say who she was voting for in the election — and she eventually did!
Related: Donald Trump’s Attacks On Taylor Swift Left Brittany Mahomes ‘Shaken To The Core’!
As for other celebrities, Pharrell? If you want to remain silent, even during these critical times, it is your choice. But do not tell celebs like Billie Eilish, George Clooney, Megan Thee Stallion, Beyoncé, and more to “shut up” about politics. It is incredibly important for celebrities to speak out, especially right now with problematic figures like Donald Trump and his VP pick, JD Vance, in the race. And we have seen what can happen when A-listers use their voices.
Take Tay, for example. Hours after she endorsed Kamala Harris, one day before this interview on September 11, more than a third of a million people visited Vote.gov, the website that helps Americans register to vote, “from the custom URL created and shared by” the singer. That is massive and amazing! And just goes to show what not shutting up about politics can do. Pharrell continued:
“When people get out there and get self-righteous and they roll up their sleeves and s**t, and they are out there walking around with a placard: ‘Shut up!’ So, no, I would rather stay out of the way, and obviously, I’m going to vote how I’m going to vote. I care about my people and I care about the country, but I feel there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and I’m really about the action.”
Um… What does he think “the action” is? How is convincing hundreds of thousands of people to register to vote not “action”? It doesn’t make any sense. Seriously, not a good take, Pharrell… Not at all…
Ever since the Happy artist’s comments went viral online, fans stormed the internet to blast him for the “out of touch” comments. And to call him a hypocrite!! Why? It was eight years ago that he was apparently into politics — because he endorsed Hillary Clinton. See the comments from his most recent Instagram post below:
“Weren’t you endorsing Hillary [Clinton] back in 2016 on Ellen?”
“I was shocked that you told the Hollywood Reporter that celebrities should shut up about who they are endorsing!! After Taylor Swift endorsed [Kamala] Harris.”
“Not ‘doing politics’ is so incredibly privileged and out of touch”
“Must be nice to ‘not do politics’. Some of us have no choice!”
And the criticisms of Pharrell’s remark did not just stop in the comments section of IG. People had a lot to say on X (Twitter), too! They wrote:
“Perhaps Pharrell thinks we forgot about when he used to speak about voting. Suddenly he has a problem this election cycle….I can only wonder why. Pharrell is a joke with this take.”
“I’ll be real, Pharrell is a legendary producer and nothing he says will get me to stop listening to music. That being said he should take a page out of his own book and shut the f**k up”
“this is a privileged take lol”
“Just because YOU don’t do politics doesn’t mean other celebrities can’t… And just because YOU weren’t asked who you were voting for (because nobody cares) doesn’t mean other celebrities aren’t asked.”
What are YOUR thoughts, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.
[Image via MEGA/WENN, Variety/YouTube]
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