Pharrell reflected on the role women have played in his life and career in an interview with the Los Angeles Times — and framed projects like Hidden Figures as a way to pay them back and pay them tribute.
"I just recognize that, musically, women have lifted me and kept me up, for years. Good songs, bad songs, they've always been there for me," Pharrell told the newspaper. "So I've been on this thing where I just want to lift women."
The same month, Pharrell chatted with Billboard, and told the magazine the movie is a fresh, empowering representation of black women. "You have three African American female protagonists not talking about divorces or consoling each other or burning up the Range Rovers; none of that. These were three African American female protagonists who were scientists, engineers, mathematicians, technologically advanced," he said. "There's a lot of gender bias and there's still racial bias. It's severe to me."
