Overview
- On Dec. 31, the New Birth pastor addressed online criticism from the pulpit, and the church later posted the clip on Instagram.
- He said the gown was flesh-colored rather than see-through and reiterated that he purchased it and approves of it.
- The discussion followed their Dec. 20 appearance at the UNCF Mayor’s Masked Ball in Atlanta, where the couple delivered the invocation.
- Bryant contrasted the attention on attire with the roughly $4 million the event raised for HBCUs, calling that the larger story.
- Opinion pieces framed the backlash as policing of Black Christian women and an example of respectability politics, with no institutional discipline reported.