New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a deeply unpopular mayor.
In 2023, a Quinnipiac University poll found his approval rating to be 28%—a record low of any mayor in the city since the poll began in 1996. And in April 2024, a separate survey from the Manhattan Institute showed that only 16% of likely voters would support his reelection.
Both of those surveys, of course, came months before the federal bribery, campaign finance, and conspiracy offenses charges Adams now faces.
Authorities unsealed the scathing indictment on Thursday, following nearly a year of federal probes into allegations Adams conspired with a foreign government to obtain illegal campaign donations.
Much of the charges center on his contacts with the Turkish government, including allegations he pressured the New York Fire Department to approve its new consulate, despite safety concerns, “in exchange for free travel and other travel-related bribes.”
Adams pled not guilty.
And an unlikely celebrity spotlighted the mayor’s unfurling legal problems: Sabrina Carpenter.
The pop singer on Sunday joked about the indictment during her show in New York, telling the audience: “Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted or…?”
Indeed, Carpenter does have ties to the myriad investigations into Adams, though not this specific indictment.
In 2023, a music video for “Feather” caused an uproar in the Catholic church after a Brooklyn priest granted her permission to use his parish to film the video, in which she’s seen dancing through the pews in a tiny black dress. The permission-granting priest, Jamie Gigantiello, was demoted in the wake of the video.
The New York Post credited Carpenter with unintentionally putting the “unknown priest and church on the radar of feds investigating corruption around Adams.”
On Sept. 20, federal authorities issued a subpoena to the church in question requesting information about business and financial dealings between Gigantiello and Frank Carone, Adams’ ex-chief of staff.
While Carpenter herself had little to do with escalating the indictment—and the exact connection of the subpoena to Adams’ indictment is unclear—fans have been happy to give her the credit.
“Sabrina Carpenter canonically helped take down Eric Adams,” wrote one person.
“Sabrina carpenter is responsible for Eric Adams’ downfall I have to devote my life to her for this I fear…” concluded someone else.
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