Pharrell Wears A Native American Headdress On The Cover Of ‘Elle’ UK, Sparks Twitter Backlash

Mike Wass | June 4, 2014 12:42 pm

Pharrell swapped his now trademark Vivienne Westwood mountie hat for a Native American headdress on the Doug Inglish-shot cover of Elle UK and sparked an immediate social media backlash. Some commentators accused the hitmaker of cultural appropriation, arguing that the headpiece is sacred cultural garb. The hashtag #NotHappy soon began to trend on Twitter.

To his credit, the “Get Lucky” singer issued a heartfelt apology. “I respect and honor every kind of race, background and culture,” Pharrell said in a statement. “I am genuinely sorry.” The magazine is yet to comment. I have another (admittedly, much less important) issue with the look. Does it remind anyone else of N.E.R.D.‘s Nothing LP cover? See a selection of the #NotHappy tweets after the jump.

There were alternate views, however:

How do you feel about Pharrell’s fashion statement? Let us know in the comments below.

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