Pharrell Pulls His Festival Out Of his Hometown Over His Cousin's Death By Police

Pharrell's Something in the Water festival won't be returning to his hometown of Virginia Beach.

The Neptune's star has pulled the festival over the city's "toxic energy," and says he wishes the city did more after his cousin was shot by a police officer.

25-year old Donovon Lynch was shot and killed in March by Virginia Beach cop Solomon D. Simmons III, who says Lynch pointed a gun at him.  

The city responded to the $50 million wrongful death suit filed by Lynch's father by standing behind Simmons's account of what happened.  Both Lynch and Simmons are Black.

City leaders hope Pharrell will reconsider.

“We’re hoping we can have a face-to-face meeting with Pharrell and go over his concerns and see what we can do to get things back on track,” Mayor Bobby Dyer said. “By meeting in person and communicating, I am confident we can move in a better direction. That would be best to build those positive bridges.”

In 2019, Something In The Water brought $24 million to Virginia Beach.