The religious controversy that put a top pop star on my radar

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This summer, as pop singer Sabrina Carpenter dominated the airwaves with hits like “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” I couldn’t stop thinking about when I first heard her music.
It was when I researched one of the strangest faith-related controversies I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing about in November 2023.
The drama began when a Catholic Church in Brooklyn, New York, agreed to let Carpenter film a music video in the sanctuary. She and her team used the church for a funeral scene.
Although it’s not that unusual for churches to be used as filming locations from time to time — anyone else love the iconic “West Wing” monologue filmed in Washington National Cathedral? — it is unusual for the resulting footage to lead to a formal apology from a Catholic priest.
That’s what happened when Carpenter’s video “Feather” was released. Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello apologized for agreeing to the filming and denounced the video, which involved Carpenter portraying a character who celebrated when her various love interests died.
The Catholic bishop over the area ultimately led a “Mass of Reparation” at the church in order to restore the space and smooth hurt feelings, as I wrote last year.
That story has been on my mind lately as Carpenter becomes a bigger and bigger star — and as rumors circulate that the music video scandal is somehow connected to federal investigations into New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The same priest who approved — and then apologized for — Carpenter’s film crew has been linked to Adams’ former chief of staff, according to People.
The Catholic Diocese that oversees the church has released a statement saying it’s cooperating with law enforcement, per People.
For her part, Carpenter has embraced the new twist on the music video scandal.
“What should we talk about … how I got the mayor indicted?” she joked during a concert at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 29.
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Before she became best known as Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston was a star singer in her own right.
She won two Grammys as a soul and gospel artist and built a career around providing supporting vocals for several major artists, including Elvis, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Aretha Franklin, according to The Associated Press.
Cissy Houston also led a major youth choir at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where young Whitney Houston got her start.
“Cissy Houston sang backup on Whitney’s eponymous, multi-platinum first album, and the two shared the lead on ‘I Know Him So Well,’ from the 1987 mega-seller ‘Whitney,’” The Associated Press reported.
Cissy Houston died last week at age 91. She had been in hospice care for Alzheimer’s disease.
Although I’ve written in recent weeks about several of the religion cases awaiting Supreme Court intervention, I haven’t done a good job summarizing their cultural significance. Thankfully, I stumbled upon a New York Times essay that tries to do that. It argues that the most important decision the justices will make this term is whether or not to insert themselves into ongoing culture wars.
Hank Greenberg, a Jewish baseball player, is thought of today as the sports world’s first Jewish superstar. His success in major league baseball came against the backdrop of intense antisemitism, according to The Conversation.
I’ve written before about the church in Texas closely tracking two astronauts unexpectedly stuck in space. Christianity Today had a delightful new article about the situation last week, which focused on astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore’s effort to stay in touch with fellow members of his congregation.
The Deseret News politics team has done several stories in recent weeks on how the Trump and Harris campaigns are reaching out to Latter-day Saint voters. My favorite detail dug up by reporter Samuel Benson so far is that the Trump merchandise team removed the word “coffee” from the product listing for a “Latter-day Saints for Trump” mug after realizing — or being reminded — that few Latter-day Saints drink coffee.