Gospel awards drops Kim Burrell over homophobic rant
Kim Burrell has been un-invited from a BMI event after her homophobic comments.
In a church sermon last month, pastor and singer Kim Burrell – who features on Pharrell track ‘I See A Victory’ – claimed that homosexuality is an “evil spirit” and that homosexuality is a perverted act.
Burrell claimed: “Anybody in this room who is filled with the homosexual spirit, pray God to free you. You’re playing with it in 2017, you’ll die from it.”
“That perverted, homosexual spirit is a spirit of delusion and confusion. If you, as a man, will open your mouth and take a man’s penis in your face, you are perverted. If you are a woman and you shake your breasts in another woman’s face, you are perverted.”
The singer’s comments have seen her dropped from an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show today and disavowed by Pharrell.
It has now been confirmed that Burrell will no longer be honoured at the BMI’s gospel awards, which take place on Saturday.
A spokesperson said: “BMI’s Trailblazers of Gospel Music is an annual celebration of gospel music and its many talented songwriters.
“Given the controversy surrounding this year’s co-honoree Kim Burrell, we have asked her to not take part in the ceremony in order to allow the focus to remain on the songwriters and their music.
“BMI was founded over 76 years ago with an open door policy to welcome songwriters across all genres, and that same spirit of tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness continues today.”
BMI will honor gospel music superstar Marvin Sapp at the event.
