Gospel singer and pastor Marvin Sapp defended his fundraising approach during a radio interview March 31, following backlash over a viral video from a nine-month-old call for donations.

In the video, recorded at a Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW) conference in Baltimore in July 2024, Sapp can be heard urging attendees to donate $20, saying,

“There’s 1,000 of you tonight and those that are watching … If I get 1,000 online to give this, if I get 1,000 in the sanctuary to give this, that’s $40,000 tonight.” The video, which went viral, sparked a debate about the culture of giving in Black churches.

Sapp, a Grammy-nominated artist best known for his hit “Never Would Have Made It,” appeared on Erica Campbell’s “Get Up Mornings” radio show to clarify the situation. He denied accusations that he had locked doors to force donations, explaining that no doors were actually locked in the convention center and that his request was meant to support PAW’s International Summer Convention.

“People said that I literally locked my people into my church until they gave me $40,000 and that’s not true,” Sapp told Campbell. “We didn’t lock any doors, because you can’t lock doors in the convention center.”

PAW issued a statement on Facebook on Saturday, apologizing for the misunderstanding. The organization clarified Sapp had been asked to seek a “free-will offering” to cover the convention’s expenses. The statement also addressed the video, explaining that the “closing doors” comment was a security measure and not a tactic of coercion.

In a Wednesday statement, Sapp reiterated that his comments were intended to encourage stewardship, not manipulate donors. “To those unfamiliar with the church context or who may not regularly attend worship gatherings, this has been misinterpreted as holding people hostage as well as offensive,” he said. “That was never my intent.”

In his radio appearance, Sapp shared the emotional toll the controversy has taken on him, revealing that he has received death threats and that his family is struggling with the fallout. “Daddy, you’re the last parent we got,” his children told him, referencing the loss of his wife to cancer in 2012.

The video clip has sparked widespread commentary, with users on social media calling out the fundraising style as manipulative. One popular post on X criticized Sapp for using “God’s name” to fundraise, while others shared similar experiences of being pressured for donations in church settings.

The viral moment also has been a source of humor. The Shade Room, a celebrity news platform, compiled reactions to the clip, which included memes, one of which humorously added the Capital One logo and tagline to an image of Sapp.

Sapp took the lighthearted reactions in stride, calling some of the memes “hilarious.” At the end of his radio interview, he acknowledged the memes poking fun at the situation but stood by his intentions.

Pastors across the country have referenced the viral clip during services. At the Freedom Temple Ministry in Rock Hill, S.C., Bishop Herbert C. Crump joked, “I don’t want to go viral like my friend. We’re not going to close no door, shut no doors.” At The Dallas Project, Elder James Johnson lightheartedly addressed the moment, telling the congregation, “I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding. We don’t do that here.”

The Rev. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, a scholar of African American religious studies, said the viral video should not overshadow the broader complexities of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. “That clip distorts the history and complexity of the PAW,” she said. “People need to let it rest.”