Sabrina Carpenter‘s nonchalant pop breakup anthem “Feather” finally got the music video treatment, in a wide range shoot that featured a number of different scenic New York City backdrops. The song’s chorus offers Carpenter’s light and literally feathery vocals singing “I feel so much lighter like a feather with you off my mind.”
The music video, which dropped on Halloween, features Carpenter killing the men in the video who do her wrong or bother her. The darkly comical concept culminates at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation of the B.V.M. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where Carpenter, donning a black minidress and veil, attends their funeral smiling.
The song has long been one of Carpenter’s biggest career hit songs, and the video received applause from fans of the singer. In the weeks following, the Archdiocese of Brooklyn revealed that they were none too amused by her antics in the video. In a statement from the Church, the Diocese of Brooklyn stated that he was “appalled” at what was filmed at the parish. In the statement first given to the Catholic News Agency, he vowed to investigate how the video shoot was approved in the first place.
Now, following the investigation, a priest from Our Lady of Mount-Carmel is now facing repercussions for permitting Carpenter to film a portion of her music video there. Monsignor Jamie J. Gigantiello gave 24-year-old Carpenter and company permission to film in the church, which the diocese said went against “diocesan policy regarding the filming on Church property, which includes a review of the scenes and script.” Gigantiello has now been stripped of his administrative duties to the parish.
News of the clergy conflict first broke via Mark Irons of Catholic news service EWTN.
BREAKING: @BrooklynDiocese responds to sacrilegious video shot in Church by #SabrinaCarpenter @SabrinaAnnLynn
"Bishop Brennan is appalled at what was filmed at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn. The parish did not follow Diocesan policy regarding 1/3 pic.twitter.com/9s7VbtZel3
— Mark Irons (@MarkIronsMedia) November 1, 2023
Following the chaos, Monsignor Gigantiello wrote a letter to the parish asking for forgiveness for allowing Carpenter’s “sacrilegious” video to be shot there.
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APOLOGY: Msgr. Gigantiello takes "full responsibility" for "proactive" #sabrinacarpenter video filmed in@BrooklynDiocese
church. Says he "had no knowledge that such a scene would be filmed," and the $5,000 the church received for filming to be donated to crisis pregnancy center pic.twitter.com/605xEBLqkW— Mark Irons (@MarkIronsMedia) November 6, 2023
Carpenter v. Catholic Church
The church’s strong response has sparked plenty of conversation across social media, and particularly on X, formerly known as Twitter. Some feel that such a strong response and consequences for the priest were not necessary, given that Carpenter’s scene in the parish is only a small portion of the video, and depicts her walking towards the coffins and nothing more.
this 30 second clip is the only part of her in the church and all she's doing is standing and walking in a poofy dress. there is nothing demonic happening at all. pic.twitter.com/gREc1xvAQF
— ashley 💌 (@betubrina) November 2, 2023
Others still felt that the overall tone of the video in connection to the church is what inspired such a reaction from the Brooklyn Diocese.
How would you feel if a music video was shot somewhere that you felt is sacred or deserves respect? An example you might be able to relate to would be if a music video was shot during a loved ones funeral.
— St. Joseph Stan Account (@StJosephStan) November 2, 2023
Some note that the Catholic Church has much more important scandals to reckon with–especially the decades long history of abuse of minors at the hands of the clergy.
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They don’t strip priests of their duties for sexually abusing minors but they’d strip them for a music video… pic.twitter.com/88IIkGaCn7
— Danny (@dannywontmiss) November 27, 2023
Many are arguing for justice for Gigantiello.
FREE THE CATHOLIC PRIEST. he gave us an amazing music video.
— viviana (fan) (@repmiIas) November 27, 2023
Meanwhile, some X users joke that the priest must have simply been a Sabrina Carpenter super fan.
he sacrificed his title for sabrina
— JULISSA ⁴ (@ivepinkoutsold) November 27, 2023
Carpenter is currently supporting Taylor Swift on the South American leg of “The Eras Tour,” and is yet to comment on the incident.
