Earlier this year, it was reported that Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams were battling over the Neptunes name rights in court. On Wednesday, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Williams revealed that the two childhood friends aren't doing so great.
When asked if he's on speaking terms with Hugo, Williams answered, "No. But I love him, and I always wish him the absolute best, and I’m very grateful for our time together." However, Williams says Hugo does voice himself in Williams' upcoming Lego biopic Piece By Piece. (The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival the other night and the post-screening Q&A session was crashed by a PETA protestor.)
In March, Hugo filed a legal action accusing Williams and the company he owns of attempting to register trademarks for the Neptunes name without consulting Hugo, violating an agreement they had to split everything equally between the pair. A rep for Williams said he was "surprised" by the situation.
Elsewhere in the THR interview Williams shared his feelings about celebrities who make political endorsememts:
I don’t do politics. In fact, I get annoyed sometimes when I see celebrities trying to tell you [who to vote for]. There are celebrities that I respect that have an opinion, but not all of them. I’m one of them people [who says], “What the heck? Shut up. Nobody asked you.” When people get out there and get self-righteous and they roll up their sleeves and shit, and they are out there walking around with a placard: “Shut up!”
