Kim Burrell
Kim Burrell and Pharrell Williams perform onstage during the Citi Concert Series on TODAY at Rockefeller Center on 9 December 2016 in New York City D Dipasupil/Getty Images for CITI

Pharrell Williams has said that there is no room for prejudice in 2017 after Kim Burrell's lost her guest appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show over homophobic comments made in a sermon that went viral. The Happy hitmaker comforted his long-time friend with a warm embrace during the latest episode of her show after openly-gay DeGeneres revealed she was personally offended by the gospel singer's comments.

"She said some very not nice things about homosexuals so I didn't feel that was good of me to have her on the show to give her a platform after she's saying things about me," the presenter said.

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Williams said that although Burrell was talented, he could not condone her actions. "There's no space, there's no room for any kind of prejudice in 2017 and moving on. There's no room," the Grammy award-winning producer said.

"She's a fantastic singer, I love her, just like I love everybody else and we all got to get used to that. We all have to get used to everyone's differences and understand that this is a big, gigantic, beautiful, colourful world and it only works with inclusion and empathy. It only works that way."

Burrell, who featured on Williams' track I See A Victory had been due to perform the song with him on the show following after their duet went down a storm on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back in December.

The 44-year-old Texan preacher, who co-founded the The Love & Liberty Fellowship Pentecostal Overcoming Holy Church in 2010, has addressed the controversy, saying she would 'make no excuses or apologies' for referring to members of the LBTG community 'perverted' with the 'homosexual spirit'.

Reiterating her stance on Facebook Live, she said: '[I never said] all gays were going to hell. I know that people are going to be mad. To every person that is dealing with the homosexual spirit, that has it, I love you because God loves you. But God hates the sin in you and me, anything that is against the nature of God.'

@Pharrell is here tomorrow to speak his mind about love, acceptance, inclusion and a whole lot more.

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