You won’t see Sabrina Carpenter begging for forgiveness in the pews over her sacrilegious video filmed in a Brooklyn church.
The rising pop star, 24, found herself at the center of a Catholic church crisis over the racy video to her song “Feather,” which debuted on Halloween.
The video featured the blonde songstress dancing around pastel coffins in a skimpy black dress inside Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — shocking churchgoers and Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan.
The scandal saw Monsignor Jamie J. Gigantiello, who approved Carpenter’s team request to film inside the church, relieved of his administrative duties, some of which he had held for 15 years.
But that doesn’t have Carpenter running for the confessional booth.
“We got approval in advance,” she told Variety in an interview, before jokingly adding “Jesus was a carpenter,” also perhaps meant as a sly reference to the similarity with her own name.
The Christian scriptures make reference to Jesus being a carpenter, although his exact earthly profession has been subject to debate over the centuries.
Despite her humorous approach, Brennan didn’t take her action too lightly, having re-consecrated the church following the video’s debut.
He also said he was “appalled” to learn about the video, which features scenes of men killing each other as they vied for Carpenter’s attention.
Gigantiello has apologized for approving the production, saying he was unaware of what exactly Carpenter would pull.
Gigantiello said he was told most of the video would be “filmed outside” the church and he and his team were “not aware that anything provocative was occurring in the church, nor were we aware that faux coffins and other funeral items would be placed in the sanctuary.”
“While I take full responsibility for the erroneous decision to allow the filming, I want to assure you that I had no knowledge that such a scene would be filmed in our church which we worked so hard to restore to its present sacred beauty,” he wrote in the Nov. 6 letter.
Gigantiello said he initially accepted the offer after being approached by a local film crew and after looking up the young artist, his search “did not reveal anything questionable,” so he allowed the shoot to proceed.
The priest, who still offers mass at the church, has since asked parishioners to forgive him.