Let’s connect the dots from the pop star to a Brooklyn monsignor to the embattled mayor of New York City

If you were in New York City over the weekend, chances are you spent some portion of your time discussing embattled Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on federal bribery charges last Thursday. This turned out to be true even if you are Sabrina Carpenter.

“Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted?” Carpenter said to her audience between songs in her set at Madison Square Garden Sunday night. 

Obviously, yes, we should talk about this, though I am professionally obligated to clarify that pop star Sabrina Carpenter is not directly responsible for Adams’s legal troubles. The feds got the particular tea-espresso somewhere else. Still, the story of how Carpenter became tangentially connected to the investigation into Adams and his close associates certainly warrants further investigation. 

What is the actual link here?

To start, the name you need to know is Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello. Carpenter crossed paths with Gigantiello last fall when he gave her permission to film the music video for her song “Feather” at the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn.

In the music video, Carpenter watches as various men leer in her direction, catcall her through the streets of Brooklyn, and fight each other over her—before all of them ultimately meet grisly ends. In one scene filmed inside the church, she dances in front of their pastel-hued coffins, one of which reads “RIP BITCH” on the outside.

The diocese did not love it! 

Bishop Robert J. Brennan said he was “appalled” the church had been used in such a manner. He performed a special Mass of Reparation to reconsecrate the church and restore the premises to their original holiness. Bishop Brennan also stripped Monsignor Gigantiello of his administrative duties. There may have been further discipline and a broader review of Gigantiello’s conduct, though that’s unclear—but we’ll come back to that.

Carpenter, for her part, was unfazed.

“We got approval in advance,” she told Variety. “And Jesus was a carpenter.”


So, why does this priest matter to Eric Adams?

Though Monsignor Gigantiello did not seem to have been too familiar with Carpenter’s general propensity for gore and dick jokes—he said after the music video was released that he thought the content filmed at the church would be clean—he seems very familiar with both Adams and the mayor’s former chief of staff, Frank Carone. 

Gigantiello and Carone are longtime friends, and Carone introduced the monsignor to Adams during his time as an adviser. The three were friendly—they all seem to share a taste for entertainment and enjoy a bit of limelight. The New York Post says Gigantiello “likes to party” and is often seen out with Carone. The two also joined Adams on a trip to Rome last spring, where they posted photos snacking on biscotti as a group. Gigantiello is a bit of a gourmand. In addition to his work for the church, he hosts a YouTube cooking show and produces his own tomato sauce called “A Taste of Heaven.” 

Earlier this month, NBC New York reported that federal investigators had subpoenaed both Gigantiello and Carone, looking for information about their business dealings with Adams.

And this is where Sabrina Carpenter comes back into the mix?

Potentially, yes. Some news outlets have speculated that federal investigators wouldn’t have taken a closer look at real-estate deals involving Gigantiello and Adams were it not for the whole music video brouhaha. 

It’s not exactly clear how the feds got roped in, but both Politico and the New York Post have suggested that the “Feather” incident prompted the Brooklyn diocese to look more closely at the monsignor’s conduct, and things spiraled from there. The Post, as only the Post can, wrote that “the sultry Sabrina [put] the hitherto unknown priest and church on the radar of feds investigating corruption around Adams.”

The Post also said that Brooklyn diocese officials, when asked for comment, linked the subpoenas and the investigation following the music video by suggesting they were part of the same review. To me, the statement quoted by the Post is bland and vague enough to be open for interpretation. And so far, Gigantiello has not been accused of any wrongdoing. His name was also not mentioned in last week’s indictment of Adams. This may turn out to be a lesson in how rumors get started. But boy, did they get started!


What is everyone saying about this situation?

During a service on September 22, Gigantiello joked about the news reports, most of which mentioned his tomato sauce and culinary interests, to a group of more than 100 parishioners. 

“I’m sure you saw my advertisement for my cookbook and tomato sauce on the news this week,” he said. “That cost a lot of money to put that advertisement there.” Gigantiello then said he had to be careful speaking, as he was broadcasting on a livestream. He ended on a request for prayers.

Adams has proclaimed his innocence in general but hasn’t commented on the Sabrina Carpenter of it all specifically. Though knowing his general attitude toward celebrity, it’s only a matter of time! Carpenter made her only comment so far at the Garden. 

If there were ever a reason to bring back the “Nonsense” outros, it would be to see what she’d do with the word subpoena. Pop quiz: What’s the dirtiest thing you can rhyme with Turkish Airlines?

Nora Princiotti
Nora Princiotti covers the NFL, culture, and pop music, sometimes all at once. She hosts the podcast ‘Every Single Album,’ appears on ‘The Ringer NFL Show,’ and is The Ringer’s resident Taylor Swift scholar.

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