Sabrina Carpenter recently released a music video for her new hit single, “Feather,” featuring the deaths of malicious men, and partially filmed in the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Catholic church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The video featured Carpenter dancing in front of the men’s coffins, in the church, in a fluffy, short black dress. Carpenter and her team faced backlash from the Catholic church, specifically the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary attendees, for improper use of the church.
Carpenter told Variety that the team had gotten permission from the church in advance to use it as a backdrop in the video. It was later revealed that the priest did not follow the proper protocol when granting them permission.
“Sabrina Carpenter filming such an explicit video in the church was definitely an interesting choice,” said Maddie Kitchens, junior education major. “I can see why people would be upset about the lack of respect, but I personally don’t see anything wrong with it if she got permission beforehand.”
The priest who permitted them to film in the church, Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, was stripped of his duties and the church held a mass with a new pastor to restore the sanctity of the catholic church.
“Jesus was a carpenter,” Carpenter told Variety.
Though the pop singer is handling this controversy with humor, the Diocese of Brooklyn told the Catholic News Agency that her video was “violent and sexually provocative.”
“I think that the church has no right to sue her or anything because she got permission ahead of time,” said Chloe Hooper, senior criminal justice major. “She is also such a big popstar right now, I feel like they should be happy to have that kind of publicity.”
The parish claims that he researched Carpenter thoroughly and that he was completely misled about what the music video was going to contain.
“Has he even streamed Emails I Can’t Send,” said Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone writer.
The 24-year-old singer has dismissed the controversy with her comical comments and has yet to post anything online related to the drama. She has continued to promote the video and perform at events like Jingle Ball and Taylor Swift’s South America leg of The Eras Tour.
Carpenter has also just wrapped up her own Emails I Can’t Send tour that included 80 sold-out shows internationally. The popstar is on an incline of popularity and gaining more fans by the day after her album debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 100, according to Variety.
“I have been a fan of Sabrina since her Disney days when she released her first album Eyes Wide Open so it would take a lot for me to stop listening to her,” said Hooper.
Social media seems to agree with Hooper as most articles and comments you see on the issue comdem the parish rather than Carpenter. The Feather video has already reached 15 million views on youtube with the comment section filled with praise for Carpenter’s music and performance.
“Not gonna lie, I actively started listening to her bcz she opened for Taylor’s tour but now I’m obsessed with her,” said @shivam3vedi. “I regret not being a fan sooner coz she’s just amazing!”
