Pharrell Williams’ ‘Piece By Piece’ LFF screening disrupted by animal rights protesters

The 68th BFI London Film Festival came to a close last night, with the UK premiere of Piece by Piece, the LEGO biographical documentary / comedy directed by Morgan Neville, which follows the life and career of musician Pharrell Williams.

The closing night gala at the Royal Festival Hall was disrupted by a group of animal rights protesters representing activist group PETA. They unfurled a banner that read: “Pharrell: Stop Supporting Killing Animals For Fashion” – referring to the musician and director’s role as the men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton.

“Shame on you, Pharrell. Animals are skinned alive and tortured,” one protester shouted from the balcony of the concert hall.

“Stop the torture, stop the pain, LVMH you are to blame,” they chanted. “Animals are not fabrics, they’re not handbags…Fashion is violence."

Security escorted the protesters out of the auditorium, according to a representative for the British Film Institute. “We feel it was managed well and any attempt to remove them earlier would have exacerbated the problem,” the rep told Variety.

In a statement, PETA UK senior campaigns manager Kate Werner said: “While Pharrell’s life story is told in this navel-gazing film, animals are confined in filth on farms before their heads are bashed in and their skin is ripped off while they’re still conscious – all so pieces of their bodies can be made into Louis Vuitton’s fleeting fashion pieces.”

Werner added: “PETA is calling on Pharrell to use his power for good, stop being complicit in cruelty, and push Louis Vuitton into the 21st century by refusing to use wild-animal skins and fur.”

Williams responded by saying: “God bless you. Rome wasn’t built in a day and the changes that they see, they don’t happen overnight. It