On Tuesday, The Door McAllen issued an formal apology statement on Instagram. In it, pastor Roman Gutierrez admits that the church “did not ask for, or receive, a license from the producers or creators of Hamilton to produce, stage, replicate or alter any part of Hamilton; nor did we seek prior permission to alter Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work.”
“Lastly, we will pay damages for our actions,” Gutierrez wrote, however, he made no mention of an exact amount.
The unauthorized production nicknamed, “Scamilton” made headlines earlier this month when The Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church live streamed an illegal version of the Broadway musical, which was littered with biblical lessons and homophobic messages.
At the end of the play, the associate pastor of the church, Victor Lopez, gave a closing sermon boldly denouncing homosexuality and comparing it to struggles such as drug addiction.
This is how The Door McAllen church concluded its illegal production of Hamilton: with a sermon demonizing homosexuality. pic.twitter.com/FXpw8ycvbb
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) August 7, 2022
After clips of the unofficial play went viral, Lin Manuel Miranda, who plays the titular role tweeted in response to the offensive production, writing, "Grateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production. Now lawyers do their work," Miranda started his tweet on Wednesday.
Additionally, a spokesperson for the Broadway musical told USA Today, “The ‘Hamilton’ family stands with tolerance, compassion, inclusivity and certainly LGBTQ+ rights,”
Grateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production. Now lawyers do their work.
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) August 10, 2022
And always grateful to the @dramatistsguild, who have the backs of writers everywhere, be it your first play or your fiftieth. 1/2 https://t.co/yMtM3z9crI
On Tuesday, a Hamilton spokesperson told The New York Times that it would donate The Door McAllen’s damage payments to the South Texas Equality Project, which is an organization supporting LGBTQ+ people in the McAllen, Texas area.
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