Pastor Jamal Bryant and His Wife Addressed the Backlash They Received Over Her Nude Dress

While Pastor Jamal Bryant is known for his lengthy career in ministry, his life away from the pulpit has come up a time or two. For seven years, the senior pastor of Atlanta's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church was married to The Real Housewives of Potomac star Gizelle Bryant. The marriage caused unwanted attention to his name and brand, especially after his infidelity became part of Gizelle's story on the show. During one season, RHOP star Monique Samuels even dubbed him, "Pastor Holy Whore."

While both Jamal and Gizelle have moved on from his "Pastor Holy Whore" days and he has since remarried, the pastor's love life is still a controversial topic. However, this time the saints had something to say about his second wife, Dr. Karri Turner Bryant's dress.

Here's the scoop.

In December 2025, Pastor Bryant and his wife attended the 2025 UNCF Atlanta Mayor's Masked Ball at Signia by Hilton Atlanta. During the event, Karri wore a black lace gown with flesh-colored fabric across her upper body. The dress was also sleeveless and paired with black silk gloves. The First Lady posted a video of her wearing the dress on Instagram, which was met with rave reviews by her community. However, multiple churchgoers and commenters felt the dress was inappropriate for someone of her status.

"The dress is fire!" one commenter wrote. "That's how you are supposed to shut it down at a the Mayor's Ball. Y'all look GOOD fam!"

"Looks like she borrowed Kim Kardashian's dress!" one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote. "The wife of Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth church in Atlanta. SMH! First Lady Jezebel."

The negative comments surrounding Karri's dress erupted the internet, with many social media users explaining why they felt the gown wasn't becoming of her. Several days after the controversy didn't die down, Pastor Bryant addressed the backlash his wife received during his New Years Eve service.

"I needed to get this straight," he said. "I needed to deal with it head on. Because the other day, the internet went crazy about a dress my wife had on."

"Now they didn't say anything about the $4 million dollars that was raised for the United Negro College Fund. They never mentioned that she prayed until Heaven came down. They never said anything about how this was the largest fundraiser for HBCUs in the country. But insecure, jealous, petty small-minded people got in their feelings and set up a false barometer of holiness based off of a dress."

"Now you got to help some people, because some people are going to embrace the full knowledge of ignorance without any assistance for understanding. The dress was not see-through, the dress was flesh-color. I needed to set the record straight: I bought the dress! And I like it. I don't care whether you like it or not, she ain't married to all. She married to me."

Pastor Bryant's message was met with positive reviews, including one from Karri who wrote a heartfelt response to her husband.

"I Love You Baby!" she commented under his video. "Thank you! Not just for me, but for every woman who has experienced what I continue to walk through. Your words have been like a healing salve to my heart and your arms like a warm bath. Not a day passes that you don’t affirm who I am and how much you love. YOU ARE HIM! Thank you for always covering me."