Pharrell Has Run-In with PETA Protester at His Film's TIFF Premiere

The mogul was attending a panel for his film 'Piece by Piece' when a heckler stormed the venue

Pharrell Williams wasn’t necessarily “happy” with a PETA heckler at his latest event.

While appearing at a post-screening speaking panel at the Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday, Sept. 11 for his new LEGO-animated documentary Piece by Piece, the “Frontin’” hitmaker, 51, was interrupted when a PETA protester ran into the auditorium accusing him of killing animals for his clothing designs. Williams is the Men's Creative Director at luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton and has his own streetwear lines Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream.

“Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals for Fashion,” the woman’s sign read as she chanted over and over again.

In video of the disturbance shared on social media, security attempted to intervene, but the music mogul motioned for them to stand down so he could handle things himself.

“You’re right,” Williams said to the woman multiple times as she continued to scream. “God bless you,” he added.

As some in the audience clapped following his response to the woman’s outbursts, he encouraged everyone to give her a round of applause.

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“Yes, I have. I have, you’re right,” Williams told the individual.

Eventually, she was escorted out and the musician used that time to address the woman’s claims.

“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,” he began.

“That is not necessarily the way to do it, and sitting in my position, when I have conversations on behalf of organizations like that unbeknownst to them, they come out here and do themselves a disservice,” Williams continued. “That’s okay. When that change comes, everybody in this room will remember that I told you we are actually working on that. And if she would’ve just asked me, I would’ve told her. But instead, she wanted to repeat herself.”

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) shared a statement explaining why they were “putting Pharrell on blast" on their website.

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“You made this same comment in Paris in July at your Olympics kick-off party," the organization said. "It doesn’t take ‘work’ to make a decision to stop doing something that most designers have already stopped doing. You have the power to make an important change now, and if you don’t, you should take it somewhere where you can."

Piece by Piece is directed by Morgan Neville, and tells the life story of the singer and producer through LEGO pieces. The film features the voices of Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar and JAY-Z.

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While at TIFF, Williams admitted he was “on the fence” about having his wife Helen Lasichanh and their family in the movie.

I turned everything over to [Neville], so I followed his direction," he said at the PEOPLE /Entertainment Weekly suite at the festival. "He's the director, right? So we followed his direction. It was cool. I'd like to keep my private life just private, but this was a moment where it was just like, 'Nope, let me let Morgan drive. He sees something that I don't see. Let him go.' And he did."

Piece by Piece is in theaters Oct. 11.

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