Kim Burrell, a gospel singer who is scheduled to appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show next week, recently called gays and lesbians perverts in a sermon she delivered at the Love & Liberty Fellowship Church in Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle.
“You as a man, you open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face, you are perverted… You are a woman and will shake your face in another woman’s breast, you are perverted,” she said, according to People magazine.
Burrell is supposed to sing “I See Victory,” a song from the film Hidden Figures with Pharrell Williams on Ellen’s show. The stars of the movie have spoken against Burrell’s comments, as have numerous others. Williams issued a statement that read, “I condemn hate speech of any kind,” and did not mention of Burrell.
When a video of the sermon began circulating, Burrell used the tired love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin to defend her bigotry.
Neither Degeneres nor the show’s producers have issued a statement.
What isn’t clear is why Burrell would want to be on a show hosted by a pervert, just because it’s a top-rated daytime talk show where Ellen will give this singer, whom many of her viewers never heard of before, a chance to be seen.
Certainly Ellen won’t include a clip from Burrell’s sermon on the show and confront her. We’d love to see her do that, but that’s not Ellen’s style. Ellen’s more the “when they go low, we go high” type of talk show host. Expect her to handle the situation with class.
*Headline suggested by Stephen Mobley.