He's no stranger to controversy, especially when it comes to the message in his song "Blurred Lines," but now superstar producer and singer Pharrell Williams has landed in a different flap, this time over an Elle magazine cover shot.
In the shot, the "Happy" hitmaker — who claims to have native and Egyptian heritage — is wearing a feathered headdress, and the cover produced an immediate outcry.
On the Elle UK Facebook page, people are calling it offensive, disrespectful, and blasphemous. "Ignorant or indifferent - end result is the same," writes Shari Miller. Others use far stronger language.
On Pharrell's own Facebook, the comments continue. "You have no right to wear a headress that is so sacred to native people," writes Gail Lichtsinn. "Those headdresses are earned and not worn to make a buck or draw attention..They have meaning and are worn by our men with pride and dignity..This is a mockery of a proud people..We are not a joke and take these things very seriously..Go back to wearing your OWN clothes."
On Twitter, the response has been just as strong. "I'm seriously disappointed in @Pharrell for wearing a war bonnet on the cover of @ELLEmagazine #nothappy," wrote one user.
"#NotHappy about #Pharrell. Our Culture is not an accessory! How dare the War Bonnet be worn in the same fashion," wrote another.
"Seriously? A whole magazine staff & @pharrell's handlers thought this was a good idea?" wrote one user. "RT if you're a a Native and can think of many other ways to honor our culture other than wear a fake headdress," wrote another.
In response, Williams today released an apology through his publicist, stating, "I respect and honor every kind of race, background and culture. I am genuinely sorry."
Elle UK's website originally read, "We persuaded ELLE Style Award winner Pharrell to trade his Vivienne Westwood mountie hat for a native American feather headdress in his best ever shoot," but later changed the text.
"Continuing our tradition of featuring cult male icons on collector's edition covers," it reads, "we persuaded ELLE Style Award winner Pharrell to collaborate with us on his best ever shoot."
by Jennifer Van Evra via Electronic RSS
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