Just a few days ago, Ellen DeGeneres was unfamiliar with Kim Burrell.
Now, DeGeneres likely wishes that were still the case.
Burrell, a relatively unknown gospel singer, has made headlines of late for two reasons:
1. She sings a duet with Pharrell Williams on the soundtrack to Hidden Figures.
2. She was caught on tape making VERY homophobic remarks in church.
Burrell then tried to walk back these comments, but reiterated that she thinks gay people are committing major sins.
In response, Burrell was disinvited from Ellen, with producers canceled her planned appearance.
But Pharrell still showed up, addressing the controversy with DeGeneres on today"s episode.
"She said some very not nice things about homosexuals, so I didn’t feel that was good of me to have her on the show to give her a platform after she was saying things about me," DeGeneres explained.
Pharrell, who does know Burrell well as a result of their collaboration, agreed.
"There’s no space, there"s no room for any kind of prejudice in 2017 and moving on," he replied. "There’s no room. She’s a fantastic singer, I love her, just like I love everybody else, and we all got to get used to that. …
"We all have to get used to everyone"s differences and understand that this is a big, gigantic, beautiful, colorful world and it only works with inclusion and empathy. It only works that way."
Watch their full exchange below:
