Exclusive Olympic celebrity event crashed by protesters
A stunning array of sports, acting and singing royalty packed an exclusive Paris event before it was interrupted by a very specific protest.
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Pharrell Williams, the musician who has turned his hand to fashion design, hosted some of the world’s biggest celebrities at an exclusive pre-Olympic Games event in Paris.
Williams, who is Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director, hosted the likes of Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Snoop Dogg, LeBron James, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Australia’s Baz Luhrmann at the famous brand’s headquarters.
The glittering event, titled The Prelude to the Olympics, fell on the eve of the opening ceremony for the 2024 Games.
While it was an opportunity for some of the world’s biggest names to strut their stuff in some stunning outfits, animal rights group PETA also took the opportunity to storm the event and make a statement of its own.
Two supporters of PETA, which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, crashed the party and waved signs urging Williams to stop using animal skins in his fashion designs.
PETA also released a statement from its vice president of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor.
“While Pharrell lives it up at celeb-filled soirees, the vulnerable animals sentenced to die for his ‘fashion’ choices languish in pain and filth on factory farms and at slaughterhouses, where they’ll be hacked to bits or skinned alive,” it read.
“PETA is calling on Pharrell to stop being complicit in cruelty and help pull Louis Vuitton out of the dark ages by shunning the antiquated use of animal skins and fur.”
The signs held by the protesters were emblazoned with the words “Pharrell: Stop Killing Animals for Fashion”, with the pair then removed by security guards.
PETA also managed to splash a series of similar messages and some confronting images across the Eiffel Tower.
It continued a concerning start to the Olympics for Paris organisers.
Less than 12 hours before the opening ceremony, co-ordinated acts of “sabotage” against Paris’ rail network hit Olympic organisers hard.
Originally published as Exclusive Olympic celebrity event crashed by protesters
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