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Ellen Confirms Homophobic 'Hidden Figures' Singer Won't Perform On Her Show

A video of Kim Burrell giving a hateful sermon recently went viral.
Cavan Sieczkowski
By 

Deputy Director of News & Analytics, HuffPost

Kim Burrell performs on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
Kim Burrell performs on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
NBC via Getty Images

UPDATE: Ellen DeGeneres confirmed news that Kim Burrell will no longer appear on her show with a tweet Tuesday afternoon.

Previously ...

Gospel singer Kim Burrell will not appear “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” following her recent homophobic rant.

In a video posted to YouTube on Dec. 30, Burrell, who is a pastor at the Love & Liberty Fellowship Church in Houston, gives a hateful sermon against gay and lesbian people.

“That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women,” she says in the two-minute clip. “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 ... It has come into our church and it has embarrassed the kingdom of God.”

Burrell was slated to perform on “Ellen” alongside Pharrell on Thursday as part of the promotional tour for the film “Hidden Figures,” about the unseen black women who helped NASA launch the program’s first successful space missions. The two sing a duet on the film’s soundtrack called “I See A Victory.”

Slaven Vlasic via Getty Images

Thousands of people signed Change.org petitions to stop Burrell from appearing on the show. On Tuesday, Janelle Monae, who stars in the movie, said Burrell will not take the stage.

“She’s not performing,” Monae told a TMZ videographer while at LAX, adding that she will be on the show with Pharrell. “We are so excited about this movie and about celebrating the oftentimes uncelebrated. I am a huge advocate for the other and I don’t stand for any hate speech or anything that targets our fellow brothers and sisters in a negative way.”

Monae condemned hate speech on Instagram following the leaked Burrell video.

I shouldn't even have to post this as you guys should already know where I stand but If you do not pls know I unequivocally repudiate ANY AND ALL hateful comments against the LGBTQ community. Actually I'm tired of that label. We all belong to the same community, a shared community called humanity. And today and tomorrow and the next day I will continue to stand with other like minded people who condemn any and all statements and actions that would seek to deny the basic humanity of our fellow brothers and sisters. We cannot sit Idly by nor will we speak silently when we are confronted with such violence against members of our community. I am personally beyond exhausted by the ignorance and bigotry living in some people. At times I want to punch and I want to slap a lot of people when I read and hear the shit that comes out their mouthes !!! I will rejoice when folks stop thinking they ARE GOD, Jesus' assistant, picking and choosing what "sins" are acceptable in the Bible, and using the Bible as a whip! WE can't afford anymore tearing down of our shared humanity. My advice: If your religion is causing you to spew out words of hate, judge, or look down on others because of who one loves then you need to change it. And fast. If the religion don't make you are more loving or better person, ditch it. But what do I know. My hope is that we ALL go into this new year considering for one moment that we don't have all the answers. My hope is that we become more understanding, less judgmental, more tolerate, and more patient with one another. Including me. HAPPY NEW YEAR. 🙏🏿❤

A photo posted by Janelle Monáe (@janellemonae) on

Burrell has since defended her remarks.

“I never said all gays were going to hell. I never said ‘LGBT’... I said ‘SIN’,” she said in a Facebook Live video. “To every person who is dealing with the homosexual spirit, that has it, I love you and God loves you but God hates the sin in you and me. Anything that is against the nature of God. I make no excuses or apologies. My love is as pure as it comes.”

A rep for DeGeneres was not immediately available for comment.

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Cavan Sieczkowski - Deputy Director of News & Analytics, HuffPost

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