Following the release of Sabrina Carpenter’s latest music video “Feather,” Jamie J. Gigantiello, the Catholic priest from New York who allowed the former Disney Channel star to film the music video in his church, was stripped of his administrative duties. According to a recent report by the New York Times, Gigantiello was punished days after the release of Carpenter’s music video.
Carpenter’s “Feather” music video off of her latest album, “emails i can’t send fwd:” was uploaded on October 30 nearly five months after the song’s release date. In the music video, Carpenter is seen lip-syncing as she dances around the coffins of slain male admirers while she is dressed in what appears to be a black veil and short black tulle dress with transparent black tights. This music video was filmed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Brooklyn, New York.
In a statement a few weeks ago, the Diocese of Brooklyn released a statement to the Catholic News Agency, revealing that Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan was “appalled” that Carpenter’s music video was filmed at this church given the contents of said video. The statement continued on saying that the parish failed to follow the diocesan policy in regards to filming on church property, which entails a review of the video’s script and scenes.
The parish soon responded to the diocese’s comments saying that Carpenter’s production crew failed to accurately depict the content of Carpenter’s music video. Soon after, Jamie J. Gigantiello, the priest of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish who allowed Carpenter to film the music video, took to Facebook to release an apology to members of the parish. In his apology Gigantiello stated that he approved of Carpenter’s “Feather” music video in an attempt to strengthen the relations between young artists and the parish but was not informed of the “provocative” scenes that were later filmed at the church. At the end of his statement, Gigantiello announced that his time as Vicar of Development for the Diocese ended on November 3 and for the time being Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski will be the administrator of the parish. Gigantiello concluded his statement asking for the forgiveness and prayers of parishioners amid this reflective time.
Madinah Safi, a Disney fan, was appalled by the scenes Carpenter filmed at the Lady of Mount Carmel church.
“I think that it was both the priest and Sabrina’s fault for the miscommunications,” Safi said.
Contrastingly, Amanda Gehringer, a long time fan of Carpenter who saw the “Feather” music video Carpenter uploaded on October 30, doesn’t think that Carpenter nor the priest were at fault in this situation.
“I didn’t think the scenes were very promiscuous” Gehringer said. Gehringer also had strong feelings in regards to Gigantiello’s punishment that he received for allowing Carpenter to film her music video in his church, “The priest shouldn’t have been stripped of his administrative duties.”
