Pharrell Williams.Photo: Alexander Tamargo/Getty
Williams continued with a reference to his hit song “Happy,” writing that while he “sang about a room without a roof,” he was “tired of kindly and politely being shown the door.”
“Until the gatekeepers and the powers-that-be consider the citizens and the consumer base, and no longer view the idea of human rights for all as a controversial idea… I don’t have any problems with the city, but I realize the city hasn’t valued my proposed solutions, either,” he wrote.
In his letter, Williams wrote that he initially brought Something in the Water to the area in 2019 with his goal being to “ease racial tension, to unify the region, bring about economic development opportunities and broaden the horizons of the local business community.”
“We achieved those things!” he wrote. “I wish the same energy I’ve felt from Virginia Beach leadership upon losing the festival would have been similarly channeled following the loss of my relative’s life.”
Donovon Lynch.Donovon Lynch/instagram
The “Happy” singer’s cousin Lynch, 25, was shot and killed in March in aspate of gun violencein Virginia Beach that also killedBad Girls Clubcast member Deshayla E. Harris.
“The loss of these lives is a tragedy beyond measure,” Williams wrote on Instagram at the time. “My cousin Donovan was killed during the shootings. He was a bright light and someone who always showed up for others.”
Lynch’s family has disputed that claim, and has also said Lynch was legally allowed to carry a gun, WAVY reported. The officer who shot Lynch did not have his body camera turned on at the time of the shooting.
Though Williams called for a federal investigation into Lynch’s death in April, the city police department eventually turned the investigation over to Virginia State Police,Billboardreported.
“The invitation remains open. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with him, to hear first-hand the specific concerns he has,” Dyer wrote. “Going forward with ‘Something in the Water’ was one of the first major decisions I had to make after being elected in 2019. Not everyone thought it was the right thing to do, but I believed it would be good for Virginia Beach, and it was a huge success.”
He continued: “We lost momentum last year because of COVID, but it was our intention then, and it remains now, to host the event in 2022. We see it as a catalyst for promoting positivity and that’s why the manager and I still want to talk. We’re hopeful Pharrell will accept.”
The 2019 festival was a hit in Virginia Beach, and the line-up — which featured artists like Missy Elliott, Travis Scott and J Balvin — pumped more than $24 million into the local economy, Duhaney reportedly wrote in his letter.
source: people.com
