Singer Whose Anti-Gay Rants Halted a 2013 Tour to Reappear in Hollywood

Michelle Shocked, a singer and musician whose homophobic remarks on stage brought her tour to a halt in 2013, has announced that she will be performing at the Cupcake Theatre in Hollywood on Friday.

Shocked, 52, a native of Texas, was born Karen Michelle Johnson and adopted the name “Michelle Shocked,” an allusion to the term “shell shocked.” Her first major success was the release in 1988 of “Short Sharp Shocked,” the first in a trilogy of albums with a song that made the Billboard 100.

Shocked, whose Facebook page says she lives in Los Angeles, joined the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in the 1990s. She became what she described as a “born-again Christian.” Earlier in her life Shocked was viewed by some as a lesbian or bisexual, however she declined to confirm her sexual orientation.

At a Christian event in 2011, Shocked told the audience “Who drafted me as a gay icon? You are looking at the world’s greatest homophobe.” And during a concert at Yoshi’s, a nightclub in San Francisco, in March 2013, she made a controversial speech against same-sex marriage that led the venues that had booked her “Roadworks Tour” to cancel it.

“When they stop Prop 8 and force priests at gunpoint to marry gays, it will be the downfall of civilization, and Jesus will come back,” Shocked said according to a recording of her remarks. “You are going to leave here and tell people, ‘Michelle Shocked said God hates faggots’.” Shocked later said her remarks had been misinterpreted.

Cupcap Theatre does not answer its telephone except with a recorded message and has not listed Shocked’s performance on its website. As of the publication of this story, it had not responded to an email request for information about Shocked’s appearance. However Shocked announced her appearance at Cupcake in a posting yesterday on her Facebook page which said she was appearing next week but stated the date as Jan. 9, which is Friday.

“See you next week at 9 pm on January 9th at the Cupcake Theater in ‪#‎Hollywood‬ with MC Brian Finkelstein ( The Moth, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Upright Citizens Brigade ) and storytellers Alissa Ford, Amy Ludwig, Jeni Bartiromo, Leilani Zee, Luke Allen, Marlene Nichols, Michael Repik, Raef Harrison and Samantha Sumampong,” the post reads.

Cupcake Theatre is located at 6520 Hollywood Blvd. Its website describes it as presenting “main stage musicals and theatrical Productions, along with bite-sized (around 60 minutes per show) variety performances.”