Sabrina Carpenter Responds to Catholic Church Controversy: ‘Jesus Was a Carpenter’

Sabrina Carpenter is feeling lighter like a feather amid recent controversy surrounding her “Feather” music video.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that a Catholic priest who allowed a scene from the clip to be filmed inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, had been relieved of his administrative duties, according to the New York Times. In the music video scene, Carpenter dances around the church, wearing a short black tulle dress and veil and posing with religious items at the alter, including a coffin that reads “RIP B—-.”

“We got approval in advance,” the pop star told Variety of the shoot on Wednesday (Nov. 29), “and Jesus was a carpenter.”

In an apology posted to the church’s Facebook page, the priest, Msgr. Jamie J. Gigantiello, revealed that he approved the filming in September after not finding anything negative about Carpenter online in an “effort to further strengthen the bonds between the young creative artists who make up a large part of this community.” He also told NYT that he was presented the video shoot idea as a funeral scene, but the result in the music video was “not what was initially presented to me.”

“Feather” is the latest song off Carpenter’s July 2022 album Emails I Can’t Send to get the music video treatment, following “Nonsense,” “Because I Liked a Boy,” “Fast Times” and “Skinny Dipping.” Upon its release, the album debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, marking the rising pop star’s highest peak on the chart to date.