Atlanta Pastor Jamal Bryant Responds to Backlash Over His Wife’s Nude Fundraiser Dress

Pastor Jamal Bryant is making it clear he has no patience for critics judging his wife.

During a New Year’s Eve service on Wednesday, Dec. 31, the senior pastor of Atlanta’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church addressed online backlash directed at his wife, Dr. Karri Turner Bryant, over the gown she wore to the 2025 UNCF Atlanta Mayor’s Masked Ball at the Signia by Hilton Atlanta on Dec. 20.

The dress — flesh-toned with black lace detailing and a dramatic black bow at the legs — sparked criticism on social media, with some commenters incorrectly describing it as sheer and questioning its appropriateness for a pastor’s wife. Dr. Turner Bryant completed the look with black gloves and wore her strawberry-blonde hair in loose waves.

Bryant confronted the criticism head-on in a fiery message shared during the service and later posted to his and the church’s Instagram pages.

“I needed to get this straight. I needed to deal with it head on,” he said in the video, which has garnered more than 50,000 likes. “Because the other day, the internet went crazy about a dress my wife had on.”

He contrasted the backlash with what he said went largely ignored: the impact of the event itself. “Now they didn’t say anything about the $4 million 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,” he said. “But insecure, jealous, petty, small-minded people got in their feelings and set up a false barometer of holiness based off of a dress.”

Bryant also pushed back on claims that the gown was inappropriate. “The dress was not see-through. The dress was flesh-color,” he said.

He closed his remarks with a personal declaration. “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.”

Dr. Turner Bryant appeared emotional during the moment, smiling and nodding as her husband spoke. She later thanked him in a comment on his post, expressing appreciation for his public support.

“I Love You Baby! Thank you! Not just for me, but for every woman who has experienced what I continue to walk through,” she wrote. “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.”

In the caption accompanying his post, Bryant redirected attention to broader issues affecting the Black community and beyond. “The DRESS issue was dealt with last night at @newbirthmbc … Now we must ADDRESS black unemployment, protection for the undocumented, health care for the underserved and access to higher education,” he wrote, adding that more than 100 people joined the church and over 1,000 children participated in the youth program that night.

Dr. Turner Bryant also reshared messages of support on her Instagram Stories. One supporter celebrated the moment by emphasizing the funds raised at the event, while another praised the couple after witnessing the exchange in person.

Bryant’s remarks drew attention from several public figures as well, with singer Michelle Williams commenting, “🔥💯,” and former executive Angela Rye adding, “Family!!!!! And the dress STILL fly. And my sis is STILL bad, beautiful, bold, and brilliant. 💃🏾💞.”