City seeks festival’s return, Pharrell cites ‘toxic energy’

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Virginia Beach leaders want Pharrell Williams to reconsider bringing the Something in the Water festival back next year, but the musician responded that he wishes the city had taken a more proactive stance after a police officer fatally shot his cousin. City leaders wrote to Williams, asking to meet to discuss the matter, but news outlets report that Williams responded that a “toxic energy” has run the city for too long. Mayor Bobby Dyer says he hopes officials can meet with Williams to go over his concerns and see how to get things back on track.