By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-19 16:07:28 | Updated at 2024-11-23 13:25:21
3 days ago
A Brooklyn priest who allowed pop star Sabrina Carpenter to film her raunchy 'Feather' music video in a sacred church has been stripped of his duties.
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was dramatically relieved of all pastoral oversight at Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Annunciation Parish after a bombshell investigation revealed alleged financial misconduct.
Bishop Robert Brennan claimed that Gigantiello made unauthorized cash transfers to a former top aide of New York City Mayor Eric Adams - a contact now embroiled in his own corruption probe.
'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,' the bishop said.
Another church official has already been elected to take complete control of the parish.
'In order to safeguard the public trust and to protect church funds, I have appointed Bishop Witold Mroziewski as administrator of the Parish,' Brennan revealed.
The review also revealed other alleged instances of administrative impropriety with Gigantiello using the church credit card for 'substantial' personal expenses.
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello was dramatically relieved of all pastoral oversight at Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Annunciation Parish after a bombshell investigation revealed shocking alleged financial misconduct
The priest's downfall comes months after Carpenter's provocative music video shoot last November sparked widespread criticism
It was also revealed that Gigantiello secretly recorded a deacon making racist and offensive comments at his own church.
The disgraced priest was caught allegedly transferring a staggering $1.9 million of parish funds to a law firm without diocesan approval.
Church records show Gigantiello moved $1 million to Carone's law firm Abrams Fensterman LLP in January 2019, with another $900,000 transferred in August and November 2021 - all without official oversight, the New York Post reported.
But his lawyer, Arthur Aidala, desperately tried to defend the priest, claiming the transfers were 'investments' and not loans and he did not abuse his credit card privileges.
'The bishop relieved him of his financial duties, not pastoral duties,' Aidala told the Post.
'The credit card is part of his compensation package,' he added.
The priest's downfall comes months after Carpenter's provocative music video shoot last November sparked widespread criticism.
Bishop Robert Brennan revealed that Gigantiello made unauthorized cash transfers to a former top aide of New York City Mayor Eric Adams - a contact now embroiled in a corruption probe
The steamy scenes shot inside the hallowed church sanctuary.
Gigantiello called his decision to allow the music video a 'lapse in judgment' in a letter to parishioners last November, and said he wasn't present at the time and wasn't aware at the extent of it.
At the time, Brennan criticized Carpenter's video for her song 'Feather,' which was filmed at the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.
In the video, Carpenter, 25, wears exclusively racy outfits as she watches several men who wronged her die.
At one point, she struts into the church to attend a funeral for the dead men, where she moves through a number of pastel coffins, one of which includes the inscription 'RIP B****.'
The local bishop was horrified by the contents of the video and made known his displeasure with the local parish that failed to prevent its filming.
His statement read: 'The parish did not follow diocesan policy regarding the filming on Church property, which includes a review of the scenes and script.'
The parish first claimed the production company 'failed to accurately represent the video content,' but an investigation found that the documents given to the parish provided sufficient description of 'inappropriate behavior unsuitable for a church sanctuary.'
