Pharrell has hit out at celebrities who have been endorsing politicians ahead of the presidential election later this year.
The Neptunes hitmaker made his feelings clear on the matter during a lengthy chat with The Hollywood Reporter.
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He said: “I don’t do politics. 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 says], ‘What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you.’ When people get out there and get self-righteous and they roll up their sleeves and shit, and they are out there walking around with a placard: ‘Shut up!’
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“So, no, 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.”
The producer and fashion designer also said: “I’m more of a humanitarian. I like people trying to help people. Not sure I’ll ever vote far right. I won’t do that.”
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He went on to explain that he was more interested in activism and philanthropy than politics: “But I don’t really do politics. Some policies I lean into; I think education is important. We have a nonprofit called YELLOW [whose mission is equity through education].
“And then there’s another 501(c)(3) that helps Black and Brown entrepreneurs called Black Ambition — those are the things I lean into. I’m not an activist, but I believe in action. But I do believe in activists, and you need everybody.”
Despite his comments, Pharrell has endorsed political candidates in the past, most notably Hilary Clinton ahead of the 2016 election that she lost to Donald Trump.
Speaking to Ellen DeGeneres that year, Pharrellsaid: “It’s time for a woman to be in there. Women think about things in a holistic way, it’s not so individual.
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“I’m saying I’m happy to be a man, but I love women. The thing is, if we had somebody looking after our country that thought about things as a whole, I just feel like it just would be different.”
