How a Sabrina Carpenter song led to a priest’s demotion for mishandling church funds

The New York City priest who was disciplined last year for letting pop star Sabrina Carpenter film a racy music video inside his church is now being accused of mishandling nearly $2 million in parish funds.

Church officials announced this week that Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello has been stripped of more of his duties after an investigation uncovered a “pattern of serious violations of Diocesan policies and protocols” — including making unauthorized financial transfers to a former aide in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, which is now under a federal corruption probe.

Gigantiello has been relieved of “any pastoral oversight or governance role” at the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Williamsburg, Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement issued by the Roman Catholic diocese of Brooklyn and shared with NPR.

Brennan said Gigantiello had “mishandled substantial church funds and interfered with the administration of the Parish after being directed not to do so.” NPR has reached out to Gigantiello’s attorney for comment.

Brennan said he also relieved Deacon Dean Dobbins — who had served as the parish’s temporary administrator during the investigation — citing his use of “racist and other offensive language” during private conversations held in the church office. Those conversations were “apparently recorded at Monsignor Gigantiello’s direction” without the deacon’s consent, he added.

“It was wrong to secretly record Deacon Dobbins, but the use of such language by any church employee is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” he added.

Brennan said he has appointed a new administrator “in order to safeguard the public trust, and to protect church funds.”

Here’s a look at the allegations against Gigantiello — and what any of this has to do with one of pop’s biggest hitmakers.

What triggered the investigation?

Like a lot of lore, it all started on Halloween. On Oct. 31, 2023, Carpenter released the music video for her song “Feather,” which takes place partially in a Brooklyn church.

To the tune of the upbeat song, it shows a series of incidents in which she either kills or witnesses the deaths of several men who behaved badly toward her. Carpenter drives a pink hearse to the church and, once inside, dances — wearing a short black tutu and veil — around the altar in front of several pastel-colored coffins.

The video certainly has its fans; It’s been viewed over 100 million times on YouTube. But it also ruffled many feathers (no pun intended).

Brennan, the Brooklyn bishop, told the Catholic News Agency at the time that he was “appalled” at what had been filmed at the church.

“The parish did not follow diocesan policy regarding the filming on Church property, which includes a review of the scenes and script,” the diocese said in a statement.

Days later, Gigantiello — who has served as the church’s pastor for nearly a decade — published a letter to parishioners apologizing for his role in “this shameful representation, which I whole-heatedly renounce.”

In it, he said the parish had been approached by a local film crew scouting locations for “what was presented as ‘a production featuring Sabrina Carpenter,’ ” and that he agreed to the filming “after a general search of the artists involved did not reveal anything questionable.” He said he was not present during the shoot.

“The parish staff and I were not aware that anything provocative was occurring in the church nor were we aware that faux coffins and other funeral items would be placed in the sanctuary,” Gigantiello wrote. “Most of the video was supposed to be filmed outside, near the church, which it was.”

Carpenter, for her part, said at the time that her team had gotten approval in advance, and quipped, “Jesus was a carpenter.” She wore a shirt with that phrase on it during her Coachella performance earlier this year.

As a result of the incident, Brennan removed Gigantiello as the diocese’s vicar for development — a fundraising position he had held for years — and relieved him from “all administrative and financial oversight.”

Brennan also initiated what he called “a broader administrative review of compliance with Diocesan policies and procedures.”

What did investigators find?

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, pictured in Brooklyn in 2022, lost his leadership roles in the church after an investigation found a pattern of wrongdoing, including making unauthorized financial transfers to a former top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

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Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

The review was conducted by a management consulting firm, Alvarez & Marsal, and a law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Church officials say it revealed a pattern of wrongdoing, including financial mismanagement, by Gigantiello.

Most concerningly to officials, between 2019 and 2021 Gigantiello transferred a total of $1.9 million in parish funds to bank accounts and two companies affiliated with the law firm of Frank Carone — a close advisor to Mayor Eric Adams who served as his first chief of staff in 2022 (and now runs a lobbying firm and has previously said he will chair Adams’ reelection campaign).

“These transfers took the form of three apparent loans made by the Parish to those Carone-affiliated entities,” Brennan said.

He said Gigantiello did not inform Diocesan officials or seek the required approval for the transfers, nor did he properly document the transfers or “obtain necessary details from Mr. Carone about the use of these funds.”

NPR has reached out to a spokesperson for Carone.

Brennan said Gigantiello first transferred $1 million to Carone’s law firm in 2019, and that the firm repaid that amount along with approximately 9% interest between June 2020 and June 2021. Gigantiello made two more transfers worth $900,000 in August and November 2021 to companies affiliated with Carone, apparently “pursuant to notes providing one-year repayment terms at agreed interest rates.”

But he requested early repayment of the principal amounts in February 2022 “without requiring the payment to the Parish of the substantial interest provided for under the notes.”

Gigantiello told The City that he had approached Carone to see “if there were any investments I could make” for the parish, adding that “the investments were made legally and the investments came back.”

Brennan said the unauthorized loans weren’t the only issue uncovered.

“In addition, the Diocese’s review has identified other instances in which Monsignor Gigantiello used and transferred Parish funds in violation of Diocesan policies and protocols,” he said. “He also used a church credit card for substantial personal expenses. Those transactions remain under investigation.”

Separately, he said, the diocese received evidence earlier this month from Gigantiello’s lawyers of “racist and other offensive comments” made by Dobbins, the deacon who had been serving as temporary administrator since Gigantiello’s demotion.

The evidence included recordings of conversations in the parish office at Gigantiello’s direction, without the deacon’s “knowledge or consent and, in some instances, without the knowledge or consent of the other party to the conversation.”

What does this have to do with the Adams indictment?

Adams was indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting a political contribution from a foreign national in late September, becoming the first sitting New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime.

Despite the resignation of many top administration officials — and calls for Adams to do the same — the mayor, who has pleaded not guilty, said he doesn’t plan to step down.

Several media outlets — including NBC 4 New York,The City, the New York Daily News and the National Catholic Reporter — reported that Gigantiello’s church received a subpoena from federal investigators earlier this year requesting information about business dealings between Gigantiello and Carone, describing them as longtime friends.

The two accompanied Adams on his visit to Rome earlier this year, where he met the Pope, according to those outlets.

The diocese says it “is fully committed to cooperating with law enforcement in all investigations.” It did not respond to NPR’s question about the subpoena.

It’s not clear to what extent the “Feather” music video debacle may have put Gigantiello’s church on investigators’ radar.

But Carpenter joked about her alleged role in Adams’ indictment days after it happened, while her Short n’ Sweet tour was playing New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

“Damn, what now?” the singer said onstage. “Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted, or … ?