Photos: Pharrell's ELLE UK June cover leaves readers not #Happy: He apologizes

Pharrell Williams traded in his signature Vivienne Westwood Buffalo hat for a Native American feathered headdress on ELLE UK and the controversial cover, shot by Doug Inglish, is causing some fans to lash out at the singer.

On the magazine's site readers have been leaving comments that range from:"#NOTHappy This is an insulting and ignorant display of cultural appropriation. That's my culture, not a hat," to: "Never looked so good!??? You mean ELLE and Pharrell has never looked so blatantly ignorant."

Now the hit producer is stepping up and apologizing for the photo. “I respect and honour every kind of race, background and culture. I am genuinely sorry,” he says through his publicist.

While many are calling his "collectors" cover rude, inside the pages the singer shares his beliefs on good manners and being thankful for what he has: “I wasn't always that way.  I took a lot of years to understand the value of things and the value of the people you work with.  The value of your fans who ultimately hold you high and lift you up. We’re just hanggliders, dude, and they are carrying us around.”

The Happy singer also reveals how his wife Helen Lasichanh has helped him as an artist, saying, “We just motivated each other as friends. She pushes me. I push her.”

Pharrell's  full interview appears in the July issue of ELLE UK, on sale June 5. Also available as a digital edition.