Harlem Gospel Choir Bails On Glenn Beck's Simulcast

The Harlem Gospel Choir announced Monday that it won't be performing in a simulcast of Glenn Beck's holiday film "The Christmas Sweater - A Return To Redemption," which opens in nationwide release on Thursday.

The last-minute bail was due to financial reasons, the choir said. However, James Rucker, executive director of Color Of Change, the online advocacy group that has spearheaded the advertiser boycott of Glenn Beck's television show, told the New York Daily News that the Harlem Gospel Choir pulled out of the performance after he contacted them about Beck's widely publicized antics.

"We wanted to make sure they understood who Beck was," Rucker told the Daily News. "We believe their mission is about spreading the Gospel and and promoting harmony, and we thought Beck was the antithesis of that."

The Daily News reports:

Rucker sent the choir excerpts from some of Beck's shows, including one where he said President Obama "has a deep-seated hatred for white people."

Anna Bailey, the choir's manager, said the decision to pull out was purely financial.

"I had to gracefully back out," she said. "There wasn't enough money to pay our agent's commission. "

Bailey said the choir does not play politics, and the group was unaware that critics consider Beck racist.