Before there was “Espresso,” there was “Feather,” the song that earned Sabrina Carpenter her first Top 40 hit and also put her in a bit of hot water. Its music video, released on Halloween last year, features a scene where Carpenter frolics inside Our Lady Of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She’s wearing a teeny-tiny tulle dress and there’s a coffin that says “RIP BITCH.” Some folks really, really did not like it. Now, the priest who allowed the music video shoot to happen has been relieved of his duties, again.
Less than a month after the “Feather” music video was released, the parish’s pastor, Msgr. Jamie J. Gigantiello, was stripped of his administrative duties overseeing the church. In an apology statement, he said he allowed the video shoot in an “effort to further strengthen the bonds between the young creative artists who make up a large part of this community.”
It seemed like the whole scandal had blown over until September 2024, right after NYC Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on charges of bribery, soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, and wire fraud. Federal investigators issued a subpoena to the church requesting information on “business dealings” between Gigantiello and Adams’ former chief of staff Frank Carone. The ensuing investigation revealed that Gigantiello made unauthorized financial transfers to Carone. Some publications have speculated that the minor scandal surrounding the “Feather” video put Gigantiello in the public eye, prompting the federal probe. (For what it’s worth, Carpenter has taken some credit.)
That all brings us to this past Monday, when Bishop Robert Brennan announced that Gigantiello was relieved of “any pastoral oversight or governance role” at the church due to additional “serious violations.” He wrote in a statement:
I am saddened to share that investigations conducted by Alvarez & Marsal and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP have uncovered evidence of serious violations of Diocesan policies and protocols at Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Annunciation Parish. In order to safeguard the public trust, and to protect church funds, I have appointed Bishop Witold Mroziewski as administrator of the Parish.
