Pharrell, Janelle Monáe Distance Themselves From Gospel Star Kim Burrell After Homophobic Sermon
The Texan singer and preacher Kim Burrell is a star in the world of gospel music, and she is an absolutely powerful performer. Last month, alongside Pharrell, she sang “I See A Victory,” a song from the soundtrack of the new movie Hidden Figures, on The Tonight Show, and it was stirring. But Kim Burrell is also, it turns out, a terrifying bigot.
As The Hollywood Reporter points out, footage of Burrell decrying “the homosexual spirit” during a sermon at a Houston church recently went viral. During the grainy and frankly horrifying video, Burrell says, “That perverted homosexual spirit is a spirit of delusion and confusion and has deceived many men and women. It has caused a strain on the body of Christ.” She also claims that homosexuals will die in 2017, like that’s a good thing. Here’s the video:
Since that footage came out, Burrell has gone on Facebook Live, blasting “enemies” who circulated the footage out of context. She also says that she has never discriminated against gay people: “I love you, and God loves you. But God hates the sin.”
Meanwhile, Pharrell and Hidden Figures cast member Janelle Monáe have both distanced themselves from Burrell without explicitly calling out her name. On Instagram, Pharrell has posted a vague statement decrying all hate speech:
Monáe, meanwhile, went into a bit more detail in her Instagram post: “My advice: If your religion is causing you to spew out words of hate, judge, or look down on others because of who one loves then you need to change it. And fast. If the religion don’t make you are more loving or better person, ditch it.” Here’s her complete statement:
Burrell was booked to sing “I See A Victory” alongside Pharrell on Thursday’s episode of Ellen. But it will probably not shock you to learn that America’s most beloved gay talk show host does not want Burrell on her show. TMZ recently caught up with Monáe, who said that Burrell would no longer be appearing on Ellen and offered this: “I don’t stand for any hate speech or anything that targets our fellow brothers and sisters in a negative way.” She did not, however, answer a question about whether she’d appear with Burrell at any point in the future, or whether Burrell’s song should be taken off of the Hidden Figures soundtrack.
UPDATE: Ellen DeGeneres confirms that Burrell will not appear on her show.
For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show.
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 3, 2017
UPDATE 2: Frank Ocean’s mother, Katonya Breaux, has asked her son, Frank Ocean, to edit Burrell’s voice off of his Blonde track “Godspeed” in the wake of her homophobic comments.
Me: Son, can we crop Kim Burrells voice out of your song??
— katonya breaux (@katonya) January 1, 2017
I mean damn. Hypocrisy and the inciting of hate pisses me off. Opportunistic &?%#€!!
— katonya breaux (@katonya) January 1, 2017