Pharrell Williams says he’s not a fan of politics.
Appearing at the city’s fifth annual Black Ambition Demo Day, where he was honored with a key to the city, he said that politics is a “magic trick” that promotes division.
“As we look at what’s going on in the current political climate — I’m just saying, and I don’t wanna turn anybody off — but I hate politics, like despise them.”
“Now that diversity is off the table, now that equity is off the table, now inclusion is off the table…that makes me ask myself, so how do we survive?”, he asked.
Pharrell says it’s not about supporting a certain political affiliation or racial group.
“If diversity, equity, and inclusion never come back in style, cool,” Pharrell went on. “But in the meantime, I’m going to focus on being the best because I can bank on that.”
According to Pharrell, he doesn’t “believe in any side.”
He continued,” I think when you pick a side, you are inadvertently supporting division.”
This isn’t the first time that Pharrell expressed his disdain for politics. Last year, he told Hollywood Reporter, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, that he doesn’t “really do politics.”
He added, “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 say, “What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you.”
Williams continued: “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.”