Pharrell Williams may always be cool as a cucumber, but the recent backlash he received over his political commentary clearly has him hot.
The multi-hyphenate creator took to the stage to accept the Shoe of the Year Award at the 2025 Footwear News Achievement Awards and decided to set the record straight on his true beliefs, The Grio reports.
âSound bite this. Since most people donât like to read or do research anymore, sound bite this,â he said. âGod is the greatest. Sound bite this. I;m from Virginia. Sound bite this. You donât know I know. You ainât seen what I saw. No, you ainât been where I go. Iâm from the mud. As a child, nobodyâs been evicted more times than me. Lights turned off, water turned off, and at times, had to pump the water.â
The superstar producer went on to refer to himself in terms first coined by socialist Karl Marx to define the lower and working classes of society.
âIâm proletariat. In fact, Iâm lumpenproletariat. Sound bite this. I had to stay on my feet. Sound bite this. But I could never walk in the shoes of my parents, parents, etc, all they had to endure while staying on their feet. Or my ancestors, who arrived as captives, enslaved, who had no shoes yet had to stay on their feet as they landed on the shores of Virginia. As Black and Brown people on this earth, we have to stay on our feet. We have never had a choice.â
AS BOSSIP previously reported, Pharrell was in hot water after comments he made about DEI and being political. Many felt that he was soft launching his support for the head clown in charge and perhaps being a bit tone deaf about his own privilege. Others called into question his inability to see himself as DEI hire by Louis Vuitton, for whom he currently holds the title of creative director.
âAnd if we look at the current political climate, I donât want to turn anybody off, but I hate politics,â he said. âLike despise them. Itâs a magic trick, itâs not real. I donât believe in either side because I think when you pick a side, you are inadvertently supporting division. Yes, itâs not a popular point of view. Think about it, the wells are drying up. Now, diversityâs off the table, now equityâs off the table, now inclusionâs off the table.â
He continued,
âThat makes me ask myself âhow do we survive?â. So, do you want the job because youâre Black or because youâre the best? Do you want someone to support your startup because youâre Black or because youâre the best? So now, for me, I think itâs about us having the best ambition. Thatâs the reason why you should support these businesses. Yes, they happen to be Black and Brown but it should be based on the pieces that were the best, not because we are a total shade of a skin color.â
Weâll see if people are willing to let his latest remarks make up for the ones he made formerly. He told political analyst Van Jones that the soundbites caught him âlackingâ and didnât tell the whole story of his comments, and it seems heâs committed to clarifying his stance.
