Katy Perry's Dad Apologizes for 'Ugly' Statements
Pop princess Katy Perry's preacher father has apologized for making anti-Semitic comments during a sermon last week.
Keith Hudson released a statement to several media outlets as well as to Jewish human rights organizations on Thursday.
The 63-year-old Pastor said, "I deeply regret the hurtful and ugly language I used in my message in Ohio."
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According to the Jewish Chronicle, the superstar's father told congregants of the Church on the Rise in Westlake, Ohio, "You know how to make the Jew jealous? Have money, honey."
Hudson also reportedly said, "You go to L.A. and they own all the Rolex and diamond places. Walk down a part of L.A. where we live and it is so rich it smells. You ever smell rich? They are all Jews, hallelujah! Amen," during the Sunday service last week.
In his apology, Hudson continued, "I understand the power of words, and the need for all of us to think twice before using words that hurt or harm others. I apologize for the hurt that I caused my Jewish friends."
Hudson went on to clarify that he is not an anti-Semite, while confessing that he may have continued to use the same statements had he not realized what the words really meant.
"I have had a few days to think about what I said, and to listen to my words as they were understood by others," explained Hudson. "I used images about Jews rooted in the worst anti-Semitism in the past, images that at times led to the persecution and murder of Jews… I used them without ever considering what they meant."
The evangelical's sermon at Church on the Rise caught the attention of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which criticized Hudson for bringing up anti-Semitic stereotypes.
The Center's denouncement was added to a statement by the Anti-Defamation League which said that Hudson's statements were "unabashedly anti-Semitic" calling the incident "unfortunate that [Katy Perry's] good name is now attached to her father's words."
According to E! News, Rev. Paul Endrei, who is the Pastor of the Church on the Rise, told Wiesenthal Center's interfaith director that he was "deeply hurt" by Hudson's statements, and that his church does not support Hudson's views.
In a past interview, Perry admitted that she is not very close to her evangelical parents and that she had a "very strict childhood." She has not commented on the controversy.
