Tyler Perry announced Thursday that he was giving a million dollars to help with relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey, and $250,000 of it would go to Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church.
“I know that there’s been some controversy about Joel Osteen and him not opening the doors of the church,” the 47-year-old actor explained in a Facebook video. (RELATED:Tyler Perry Responds To Criticism He Hired Too Many White People For His New Show)
“Joel and Victoria are amazing people–there’s no way that they would lock people out of the church or not let people in for shelter,” he added. “There were some safety concerns, and I spoke to them on the phone, and it all made perfect sense to me. So, before you just run and judge someone real quick, you need to know the whole circumstances.”
“This million dollars, I’m breaking it up into quarters,” he continued. “I’m sending $250,000 to Lakewood to make sure that they can get all the supplies that people need. I know that they will, I know for sure that they will, because that’s the kind of person he is.”
Perry said he was going to give another $250,000 to Beyonce’s pastor, Rudy Rasmus. He didn’t specify who would be getting the remaining $500,000.
Earlier in the week, Osteen came under fire when it was reported that his church’s door’s were closed as people were being evacuated from their homes due to the hurricane. After huge outrage boiled up on social media, the church — that seats more than 16,000 people — took in refugees of the storm. Osteen later defended his church’s decision, arguing that the doors we’re never closed.
“The church doors have always been open. We took people in as soon as the waters receded,” he told Fox News. “This is what Lakewood is all about. Some of those people who make those comments don’t realize that the church was flooded.”