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Appearing on The Ellen Show, Pharrell Williams talks about inclusion after Kim Burrell, a singer on his album, was recorded making a homophobic tirade.
Grammy-nominated gospel singer Kim Burrell is pulled from a scheduled appearance on Ellen after a video of her delivering an anti-gay sermon goes viral.
Kim Burrell and Pharrell Williams perform on NBC's Today in December. Photo: Slaven Vlasic
Burrell, 44 - a respected figure in the gospel music world, who had previously worked with the likes of Harry Connick Jr and Frank Ocean, and was once listed as an inspiration by Beyonce - was filmed delivering an angry sermon at Houston's Liberty Fellowship Church in a clip uploaded to Facebook last week, where she described homosexuality as a sin.
"I came to tell you about sin. That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion. It has deceived many men and women, and it's caused us pain on the body of Christ," she feverishly told her congregation.
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"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 screamed from her pulpit.
After the clip went viral, Burrell stopped short of apologising for the comments in a Facebook video last Friday.
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae in Hidden Figures. Photo: Hopper Stone
"I never said LGBT, I said S-I-N," she said, acknowledging that she knew "people are going to be mad".
The homophobic rant - and Burrell's non-apology - instantly drew criticism from one-time fans and collaborators, including Pharrell and Hidden Figures castmates Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae.
For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show.
"I condemn hate speech of any kind," Pharrell wrote on Instagram. "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."
"I shouldn't even have to post this as you guys should already know where I stand, but if you do not please know I unequivocally repudiate ANY AND ALL hateful comments against the LGBTQ community," Monae added in her own post.
"I am personally beyond exhausted by the ignorance and bigotry living in some people... I will rejoice when folks stop thinking they ARE GOD," she wrote.