A huge chunk of producer Tyler Perry's $1m donation to Hurricane Harvey relief is going to the shelter at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church even after the megachurch pastor had to fend off fierce criticism.
Perry said he was well aware of the criticism towards the pastor over his response to Harvey but he was on the pastor's side. In fact, he cautioned others not to make quick judgments without knowing all the facts.
'I know that there's been some controversy about Joel Osteen and him not opening the doors of the church,' Perry said according to People.com. 'Joel and Victoria are amazing people — there's no way that they would lock people out of the church or not let people seek shelter.
'There were some safety concerns, and I spoke to them on the phone, and it all made perfect sense to me. So, before you just run and judge someone real quick, you need to know the whole circumstances.'
Osteen was at the center of a huge Twitter storm for tweeting his prayers for those affected by Harvey while not opening the doors of his sprawling Houston, Texas campus to them.
Then on Tuesday, the megachurch pastor confirmed Lakewood was opening as a shelter and that volunteers were being mobilized to collect and distribute supplies.
He then went on the Today program to explain that the church hadn't opened its doors sooner because city officials hadn't required it.
'[The city] didn't need us as shelter then,' Osteen said. 'We coordinate with them all the time. If we needed to be a shelter, we certainly would've been a shelter right when they first asked.'
Harvey has left at least 45 people dead and 30,000 homeless, and as the waters start to recede, Houston is facing a massive clean-up operation.
