Photo of Kim Burrell & Pharrell performing on 'Tonight Show,' by Andrew Lipovsky
Gospel singer and pastor Kim Burrell will no longer be performing on this Thursday's episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the talk show host confirmed Tuesday.
The cancellation comes just days after video surfaced of Burrell preaching at her Houston church and rebuking gays and "homosexual spirits" as part of a very angry, disturbing "sermon" in which she showed contempt for the LGBT community and described gay sex acts in graphic terms.
"That perverted homosexual spirit is a spirit of delusion and confusion and has deceived many men and women,” Burrell said in the anti-gay rant. "You play with it. What does that mean? You'll die from it. You play with it in God's house in 2017, you'll die from it," she declared in front of a cheering audience.
Burrell sings with Pharrell Williams on the Hidden Figures soundtrack song "I See a Victory" and the two have previously performed together on NBC's Today show and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Following the video's release, Williams took to social media without directly calling out Burrell by name, saying, "I condemn hate speech of any kind. There is no room in this world for any kind of prejudice. My greatest hope is for inclusion and love for all humanity in 2017 and beyond."
Janelle Monáe, who co-stars in Hidden Figures, shared Pharrell's Instagram post, adding that she "will rejoice when folks stop thinking they are God, Jesus’ assistant, picking and choosing what ‘sins’ are acceptable ... and using the Bible as a whip!"
After facing swift backlash for her comments, Burrell shared a Facebook Live video of herself smiling and delightfully claiming her words had been taken out of context, summing it up as an attack of "the enemy." Refusing to apologize, she instead insisted she never directly took aim at homosexuals, despite telling her congregation during the controversial speech: "If you, as a man, open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face, you are perverted!”
For her part, DeGeneres (who is gay) didn't offer comment on the situation, but she did confirm on Twitter this afternoon, "Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show."
Hidden Figures opened in select cities on Christmas Day and debuts in theaters everywhere this Friday.