(Headline USA) Singer and producer Pharrell Williams said this week that he’s not happy about his fellow celebrities making political endorsements, arguing no one cares what they think about politics, as reported by The Blast.
“I don’t do politics,” Williams told the Hollywood Reporter.
“In fact, I get annoyed sometimes when I see celebrities trying to tell you [whom to vote for],” he added. “I’m one of them people [who says], ‘What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you.’”
Williams said celebrities should be far more concerned about taking “action” in support of causes they believe in.
“I would rather stay out of the way, and obviously, I’m going to vote how I’m going to vote,” he said. “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.”
He touted the two nonprofits he founded—YELLOW, which focuses on education equality, and Black Ambition, which supports black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.
“Those are the things I lean into,” Williams said. “I’m not an activist, but I believe in action. But I do believe in activists, and you need everybody.”
Williams’s comments come not long after Taylor Swift prominently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris following her Sept. 10 debate against former President Donald Trump.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift said in an Instagram post. “I think [Harris] is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Polls afterwards showed that Swift’s endorsement produced no significant bump for Harris’s campaign.
Former President Donald Trump responded to Swift in a Truth Social post on Sunday: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
Singer Billie Eilish and her brother Phinneas also endorsed Harris this week, claiming Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, “are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy.”
But more so than in past years, Hollywood seems to be holding its tongue over its normally insufferable advocacy, especially where Trump is concerned.
It may be that some feel chastened by the Biden years and fear that a tone-deaf Harris endorsement could negatively affect their own brand, alienating potential fans.
Rapper Usher Raymond seemed to echo those concerns during an appearance on The View last week when co-host Joy Behar attempted to use Swift’s endorsement to pressure him into vocalizing his support for Harris.
Although he acknowledged that he planned to vote for the Democrat, he said he preferred to keep his opinions on the matter to himself.
“I don’t get too deep into politics,” he said, although “I obviously have been watching [the race] like everybody else.”
Similarly, wrestler-turned-movie-star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was an outspoken anti-Trumpist in 2020, revealed that he would not be making an endorsement this election season—and even commended Trump for his fearlessness following a July 13 assassination attempt.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson praises Trump's defiance at assassination attempt: 'We wanted to see that' https://t.co/9X3FKcKvSA
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 10, 2024
