Van Lathan, perhaps best known for confronting Kanye West when he said slavery was “a choice,” says he spoke to Pharrell Williams after he made divisive comments about politics and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts.
On the latest episode of his podcast Higher Learning with Rachel Lindsay, Lathan revealed that he spoke with Williams directly after the comments caused backlash online. “I had an interesting conversation on the way in… I talked to Pharrell Williams earlier today,” he said around the 0:50 mark of the podcast, as seen above. “Number one, he feels like the context of where he was and what he was talking about is not being considered.”
Lathan said that Williams was doing a talk as part of a black ambition initiative that he runs, which invests in Black and brown entrepreneurship.
“Over $85 million to invest in two DEI programs… and make sure that the people behind these programs get exactly what they need,” he said. “What he meant to say and was trying to say, Pharrell told me, is that politics… he was specifically talking about right versus left politics. Not the overall example of what it means to be politically knowledgeable or engaged. … He’s talking about right versus left politics, and how right versus left politics typically leave people behind. It is divisive. It’s divisive because it doesn’t get at the heart of an issue. It is a fight for political power.”
Per Lathan, Williams told him that he doesn’t want to be a part of “a fight for political power,” and that he’s more interested in “empowering people to go out and live their dreams and execute the things that they are talented in.”
“That is one part of it. The other part of it in terms of him talking about being the best, is what he was saying is that the only thing you are going to fall back on if, in fact, DEI is dismantled, is how great you are and that greatness is going to be the thing you are going to have invest into in terms of of yourself,” he continued. “If, in fact, there is no DEI. Which is why he has the organization that he has, which is why he’s put the $85 million into people. He wants to give everybody the opportunity to be the best.”
Lathan added that Williams felt as though people wouldn’t have felt the way they did about his comments if they were aware of the context in which they were said. “I think that I was able to impart upon him the importance of political education and understanding how politics affects people’s everyday lives,” he said. “And I don’t think I knew as much about all the things that he was doing.”
Lathan did say, however, that they didn’t agree on everything.
On a previous episode of the podcast, Lathan addressed the comments and said that while he thinks Pharrell Williams is one of the most gifted musicians of all time, his comments were off-base. “Pharrell says that he is not into politics, politics is divisive,” he said at the 1:10:40 mark of the podcast. “He is into politics, he just doesn’t know that he is. … Politics affects the music industry as much as it does any other industry.”
During the 5th annual Black Ambition Demo Day, Williams indicated that he wasn’t all that engaged with politics. “I hate politics,” he said. “Like, despise them. It’s a magic trick. It’s not real. I don’t believe in either side. Because I think when you pick a side, you are inadvertently supporting division. … Yes, it’s not a popular point of view, but I just gotta say, when I think about it, the wells are drying up.”
In the same talk, Williams addressed the Black people in the audience with a question.
“Do you think for what it is that you do, do you think you’re the best? Do you want the job because you’re black or because you’re the best?” he asked. “Do you want someone to support your startup because you’re black or because you’re the best. I think now for me, it’s about us having the best ambition, and that’s the reason why you should support these businesses."