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Sabrina Carpenter quipped about her connection to the New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s indictment scandal during her recent Short n’ Sweet tour stop at Madison Square Garden.
“Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted?” the 25-year-old pop star joked to the crowd on Sunday (September 29).
Last week, Adams, 64, became the city’s first sitting mayor to be indicted. He is facing charges on five counts, including bribery, wire fraud, solicitation of contribution by a foreign national and conspiracy.
He has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
How is Sabrina Carpenter connected to Mayor Adams’s scandal?
In November 2023, Carpenter stirred controversy after she filmed parts of her “Feather” music video at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Annunciation Parish, a Roman Catholic Church in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The video shows a scene of several men fighting to the death over Carpenter. Their pastel-colored coffins are displayed upright in the church, while Carpenter sings and dances in a short black dress.
Within days of the video’s release, the church’s pastor Monsignor Jamie J Gigantiello was stripped of his administrative duties for failing to follow policy on allowing filming on the church’s property.
The Diocese of Brooklyn said that it was “appalled at what was filmed.” Carpenter addressed the controversy in a later interview, telling Variety that she had received “approval in advance” to film at the church.
It was recently reported that the church was subpoenaed by federal investigators over Gigantiello’s possible business dealings with Adams’s former chief of staff Frank Carone.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Arthur Aidala told the New York Post that Gigantiello “is not the target of any federal, state or city investigation.”
“It would be inappropriate to comment further on that review, which is still ongoing,” a spokesperson for the Brooklyn Diocese told NBC News 4. “The Diocese is fully committed to cooperating with law enforcement in all investigations, including conduct at individual parishes or involving any priest.”
The second part of the statement has since led to speculation that the “Espresso” singer’s music video controversy led to the investigation into Gigantiello’s possible business dealings and ultimately Adams’s indictment.
According to the indictment, Adams has allegedly continued to seek out, and happily accept, “improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.”
“As Adams’ prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor,” the indictment states.
On Friday (September 27), Adams surrendered to authorities and was fingerprinted before he was released on his own recognizance following the arraignment.
