Sabrina Carpenter broke her silence on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, addressing the federal corruption probe surrounding New York City Mayor Eric Adams. During a pause in her performance, Carpenter cheekily remarked to the crowd, “Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted?” The audience erupted in cheers, marking the first time the singer publicly acknowledged her connection to the scandal that has embroiled Adams.
The roots of Carpenter’s link to the investigation trace back to her Feather music video, filmed last year at the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn. In the video, Carpenter, dressed provocatively, attends a satirical “funeral” for ex-boyfriends, complete with graphic scenes of the men dying by suicide and splattering blood on the singer. The controversial imagery triggered outrage from the Brooklyn Diocese, which deemed the production a “desecration” of the church. The incident led to the demotion of Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, who had initially approved the shoot, and sparked an internal investigation.
What began as a scandal over the music video soon snowballed into something much larger. Monsignor Gigantiello, who had claimed Carpenter’s team misrepresented the video’s content, found himself at the center of a broader probe.
When federal investigators issued a subpoena to the church, it wasn’t just about the video; it was about the business ties between Gigantiello and Adams’ former chief of staff, Frank Carone. Carone, a longtime friend of the monsignor, had connections to both the church and Adams’ political operations, raising red flags for federal authorities.
The web of connections deepened as investigators scrutinized Carone’s involvement with the mayor’s re-election campaign and potential real estate deals tied to the church. Just days after news of the subpoena, Mayor Eric Adams himself was indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery.
Prosecutors allege Adams defrauded New York City taxpayers of $10 million through illegal campaign contributions and accepted luxurious gifts, including stays at lavish Istanbul hotels, as part of his dealings with Turkish officials. Adams’ relationship with foreign governments, including Israel, China, and Qatar, is also under investigation.
Adams, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, is positioning himself as a target of a political witch hunt. In a defiant pre-recorded statement released just before the indictment became public, the mayor claimed the federal investigation was retribution for his outspoken stance on the migrant crisis that has overwhelmed New York City.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target,” Adams said. He continued to argue that the charges against him are baseless, promising to “fight these injustices” and maintain his role as mayor despite calls for his resignation.
For Carpenter, what started as a music video shoot has now intertwined with one of the biggest political scandals in recent New York history. The Feather video inadvertently opened the door to a federal investigation that is unraveling a web of corruption spanning city politics, the church, and influential figures in Adams’ circle. While Carpenter’s role may be tangential, her comment on Sunday night suggests she’s well aware of the ripple effect her video created.
