Pharrell is SLAMMED as 'rude' and 'disrespectful' for outfit choice on The Graham Norton Show

By SEAN O'GRADY 12:56 02 Nov 2024, updated 15:47 02 Nov 2024

Pharrell Williams was criticised by viewers of The Graham Norton Show on Friday for his outfit choice.

The musician, 51, appeared on the latest episode of the BBC chat show alongside Billy Crystal and Paddington In Peru stars Emily Mortimer and Hugh Bonneville.

But many viewers were less than impressed with Pharrell's decision to wear sunglasses throughout the duration of the show.

Taking to X, fans expressed their distate with his outfit choice, writing: 'Why is Pharrell wearing sunglasses? I know he's cool but please!'

'Why is he wearing sunglasses indoors?'... 'I love Pharrell, but take your sunglasses off #GrahamNortonShow'.

'Lot of respect to Pharrell Williams as a musician but I lose interest when someone is wearing sunglasses on a show like this.'

'Why is Pharrell Williams wearing sunglasses on Graham Norton... you're embarrassing me in front of Billy Crystal.'

'I'm sorry but how rude is Pharrell sat there with his sunglasses on, so disrespectul.'

Pharrell was on the show to promote his new biopic Piece By Piece which tells the story of his rise to fame in Lego form. 

During the interview, Graham asked the Happy hitmaker about the medical condition synesthesia which is dealt with in the film.

That means he doesn't just hear music, to him melodies, choruses and hooks all have a textual rainbow of colours.

The medical phenomenon causes people to experience one sense through another, from seeing music to tasting words and smelling shapes.

Speaking in the documentary he confesses to feeling 'mesmerised' by music when he was young and recalls 'staring into the speaker and seeing these colours'.

'It's not something that you see with your physical eyes, it's something that you see in your mind's eye,' he explains.

'I would just start the record over, and start it over, and over doing whatever it took to continue to make it happen,' he added.

For him it not only enhances sound but also how he writes music.

Previously in a 2013 interview with NPR radio, Pharrell explained seeing colours also helps him recognise if something is in the right key.

He said: 'It's the only way that I can identify what something sounds like.

'I know when something is in key because it either matches the same colour or it doesn't. Or it feels different, and it doesn't feel right.'

Synaesthesia isn't a disease or a disorder but a rare neurological condition that affects around four per cent of people, according to Professor Jamie Ward, a cognitive neuroscientist who specialises in Synaesthesia at the University of Sussex.

'One sense can trigger another. Music might have colours, shapes and textures and they change dynamically over time. It's not like just thinking of scenes like the countryside or houses, it's more like seeing a dynamic abstract art image,' he told MailOnline.