Hip-hop artist and producer Pharrell Williams said during a recent interview that he has no interest in getting involved in politics — and he sometimes gets “annoyed” by the whole scenario when he sees other celebrities throwing around endorsements.
Williams spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about “Piece By Piece,” a Lego animated biopic about his life and career in the music industry, and the topic eventually turned to his personal political views.
“I am much more of a federal employee. I believe in merited civil service,” he said.
When asked to elaborate, he explained that he felt more in common with the federal employees who had no loyalty to a party — whether Democrat or Republican — but just showed up every day to work for the people.
“You show up to work every day, you serve your country. I’m more of a humanitarian. I like people trying to help people. Not sure I’ll ever vote far right,” he said, laughing. “I won’t do that.”
“But I don’t really do politics,” he continued, noting that he had thrown his support behind education initiatives and projects that helped minority entrepreneurs. “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.”
Williams was then asked about recent disputes involving certain campaigns using the music of artists who did not share their political views — and that was where he appeared to draw the line.
“I don’t do politics,” he said again. “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 s***, and they are out there walking around with a placard: ‘Shut up!’ 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.”
