A gospel singer has apologised - twice - after giving a bizarre sermon in which she referred to 'broke' and 'ugly' churchgoers. Watch here:
Kim Burrell was making a guest appearance at one of Brian Carn's Kingdom City churches when she took the opportunity to pass comment on the financial status and physical appearance of the congregation.
The 49-year-old said: "Sometimes before we get friends we have to do an interview: How long you been broke? How many times have you changed your name on your light bill? How many of your bills are in your little cousin's name? Do you live in a trailer home or a house?
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"You understand. It's not about status or material things. It's just about choices."
She added: "Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet each other when y'all invite me to come to your church. I'm not as expensive as I seem.
"I don't know, maybe you got a little left from your PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loan. Prayer, Praise and Power, you understand. Amen."
Moving on to appearances, she said: "Who likes to be told you're just ugly? No one likes to be told that.
"Most don't get offended until they know the bad thing about themselves… I haven't chosen anyone to be ugly yet. God is good. God is great. You all look great.
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"Most of you have on hats covering most of that anyway. Here's to you."
Oh, and she also took the opportunity to shout-out those who were 'walking by faith without a mask and no vaccine'.
Clips from the speech have gone viral on social media, and naturally, it hasn't gone down well.
She subsequently issued an apology on social media.
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According to Distractify, the now-deleted post read: "My intention is never to hurt anyone, but to spread love, laughter, and more importantly, the gift which God has given me in song. If anyone was offended, I can sincerely say I apologise.
"With that being said, the irony in this is that those who are criticising my statement are displaying the very thing they have accused me of however, it's not been humorous, or in jest."
The post continued: "My image has been used in multiple places and false statements and narratives have been created. The punitive damages for some are quite lofty.
"Please be mindful of what is both written and said (via video) about me especially if it contains untruths. Slander and defamation are not taken lightly especially if it affects my name, image or brand.
"Those pages wherein vile comments and false narratives have been created have been noted, reported, and hopefully silenced. Again, I will apologise if anyone thought that my humour was malicious, but I will not under any circumstance tolerate harassment, slander, or for my character to be defamed. Best to all."
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This apology only compounded matters for the singer though, with people on social media agreeing it was 'laughable' that her 'empty' and 'defensive' apology ended with a threat of legal action.
She has since had another stab at apologising, posting a video on Instagram in which she claimed the previous apology was written by an attorney.
She said: "Hello everybody. This is Kim Burrell. I'm sorry. I mean it. I mean that. Not from the letter, from my heart.
"I released a letter two days ago. It did not convey right at all, and I must tell you this — it was from an attorney that asked me to do it."
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She continued: "The latter part, y'all know I know, it was offensive... It was not my intent for it to be but it was her wording to say, 'They need to be aware.' I said, 'Nah.'
"My friends called me and said, 'No, there are still people who are hurt from the part of them they love about you.'"
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Jake Massey