*Leandria Johnson has apologized for her recent offensive rant about “the church” and gospel icon Marvin Winans.
Apparently upset that Winans did not acknowledge her at a public event, she called him out for ignoring her and dropped the “F” bomb a few times. She angrily stated that he walked past her like she was a “peasant” and did not know he was her inspiration. She also said “F— this Christianity B.S!”
The expletive-laced rant cost her a featured role during the gospel event at the Essence Fest where she was scheduled to pay tribute to gospel legend Dottie Peoples.
Johnson went back online to explain why she was booted , saying she was using her “amendment” right (referring to the right to free speech granted by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution), adding she meant what she said.
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Early Tuesday evening, Johnson took to Facebook to apologize to her church-going fans. On a break from a photo shoot, she took the time to explain that she was talking about the politics of the church and apologized if she offended anyone for the choice of words she used.
“Me saying ‘f’ the church, I meant to address the politics of the church. . .you know what I’m saying? All the little undermining things that hurts (sic) people like me, people like other people who have been through a lot of things in the church. . .The way I said it, using the ‘f’ bomb, I apologize to the fans of mine that do go to church.”
Johnson, 35, said she stands by her feelings with regard to the politics and “stuff” that goes on behind closed doors, adding that she does not like it and would like to see a resolution to the issues in the church.
“I think that as a Body of Christ we should sit down to see what’s going on, what we can do the ‘better’ the church.”
The video paused as if it had ended and she re-emerged to apologize to Winans in a completely different outfit, explaining that she was still on set.
“I wanted to sincerely apologize to Bishop Marvin Winans and to his congregation as a whole.”
This video too went viral, which might have been the singer’s hope to repair the self-inflicted smearing of her reputation.
Grammy award-winning Johnson has been a controversial figure since early in her career. In the video that she initially posted there were more negative comments coming from the church base, which is not new to Johnson. She was rejected by many churches for having a child out of wedlock, cursing during sermons and drinking in other videos and appearing not to care about how her conduct affected others, despite being a pastor at an Atlanta church. It is painfully obvious that Johnson has experienced deep seeded hurt. It is equally obvious that Johnson has no filter and perhaps should consider how her attitude and behavior could impact the lost. At one time her online antics placed her career in limbo, but living transparently has always been her way.
After this recurrence, the “Jesus” singer may need to exercise wisdom in restraining her tongue. In the apology video, it seems like the Sunday Best winner was accountable for her actions and collected her emotions enough to realize that sometimes it’s best to count to ten, take a deep breath and use discretion when expressing negative emotions publicly.
Mona Austin is a Multimedia Journalist who specializes in politics and entertainment. The DC-area based writer is an independent White House Correspondent and owner of Jireh Communications Group. Austin got her start as an online contributor at EURweb.com.
The Louisiana native can cook some mean catfish, but never enjoys it herself because she is allergic to seafood. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow Mona on Facebook at Mona King Austin and Twitter at 4True.
