On Monday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie described “a bizarre legal fight in California” that “pits a group of nuns against their own archdiocese and music superstar Katy Perry...over who gets to buy a former convent.”
In the report that followed, correspondent Hallie Jackson proclaimed: “It's stunningly beautiful, incredibly private, yet right in the heart of L.A. But the battle over who gets to buy it and sell it sounds like the set-up to a punch line. What do you get when you cross the Catholic Church, Katy Perry, a group of nuns, and all their lawyers? Nobody knows yet.”
Jackson touted Perry’s religious roots: “Before she became one of the biggest pop superstars on the planet, Katy Perry, the daughter of a pastor, sang gospel, releasing a Christian album. These nuns knew none of that when they heard the singer wanted to buy their convent.”
Sister Rita Callanan of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was briefly heard objecting to one of Perry’s litany of highly sexualized hit songs: “I was particularly concerned about the video ‘The Dark Horse.’”
Other than that, no effort was made in the report to actually explain why Catholic nuns might be wary of selling to Perry. Perry’s outspoken support for gay marriage, and for pro-abortion politicians like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would certainly be at the top of the list.
Jackson instead focused on Perry making “a personal pitch followed by a private performance” to convince the nuns, singing a rendition of “Oh, Happy Day”: “And while that song won over the fictional nuns from Sister Act 2, these sisters were far less impressed.”
Wrapping up the segment minutes later, fill-in co-host Willie Geist again emphasized Perry’s religious background: “And the great irony, as Hallie mentioned, is Katy Perry comes from a deeply religious family. Her father's an evangelical preacher.”
Here is an excerpt of the June 29 segment:
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7:39 AM ET
GUTHRIE: We are back now, 7:39, with a bizarre legal fight in California. Listen to this one, it pits a group of nuns against their own archdiocese and music superstar Katy Perry. And the dispute is over who gets to buy a former convent. NBC's Hallie Jackson’s got this story for us. Hallie, good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Katy Perry and the Convent; Church Battle Over Pop Star’s Property Bid]
HALLIE JACKSON: Good morning. You know, this place would be perfect for a famous person. It's stunningly beautiful, incredibly private, yet right in the heart of L.A. But the battle over who gets to buy it and sell it sounds like the set-up to a punch line. What do you get when you cross the Catholic Church, Katy Perry, a group of nuns, and all their lawyers? Nobody knows yet.
Before she became one of the biggest pop superstars on the planet, Katy Perry, the daughter of a pastor, sang gospel, releasing a Christian album. These nuns knew none of that when they heard the singer wanted to buy their convent.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN [NUN]: I didn't know who she was.
SISTER RITA CALLANAN [SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY]: I was particularly concerned about the video "The Dark Horse."
JACKSON: That grammy performance, part of the nun's research on Perry as they look to sell their eight-acre oasis, appraised at $13 million, thanks to a spectacular views and prime location in one of L.A.'s trendiest neighborhoods. Katy Perry met face to face with the skeptical sisters this spring to convince them they should sell to her, a personal pitch followed by a private performance.
[To the nuns] What did she sing?
WOMAN: What was the name of it?
SISTER CALLANAN: “Oh Happy Day."
JACKSON: And while that song won over the fictional nuns from Sister Act 2, these sisters were far less impressed.
(...)
