Pharrell Williams appeared Thursday on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where he performed without gospel
singer Kim Burrell, who was originally scheduled to accompany
Williams.
But that was before a video surfaced of
Burrell calling gays “perverts.”
(Related: Kim
Burrell calls gays “perverts” just day before her appearance on
Ellen DeGeneres' show.)
Burrell and Williams were slated to
perform I See a Victory from the Hidden Figures
soundtrack. Instead, Williams performed another song from the album
solo.
DeGeneres said that Burrell had said
“some very not nice things about homosexuals.”
“So, I didn't feel like that was good
of me to have her on the show, to give her a platform after she's
saying things about me,” DeGeneres said.
Williams was among the Hidden
Figures stars who had previously criticized Burrell's remarks.
Williams told DeGeneres that there was
“no room for any kind of prejudice in 2017 or moving on.” “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,” he said.
“And I get it. I get that sometimes,
like, some of the divisive stuff works in life. We've all learned
that lesson, right? We learned that lesson last year,” Williams
added, a likely reference to the election of President-elect Donald
Trump.
Williams performed Running from
the Hidden Figures soundtrack.