Pregnant Michelle Branch Defends Her Virgin Mary Halloween Costume, Tells Critics to 'Chill Out'

"I was raised Catholic, I meant it as no disrespect," singer Michelle Branch wrote on Instagram of her Halloween maternity costume

By Benjamin VanHoose

Published on November 3, 2021 01:43 PM

Michelle Branch is standing by her Halloween costume.

The 38-year-old Grammy winner is currently expecting her third child, her second with husband Patrick Carney. On Halloween Sunday, Branch shared a photo on Instagram showcasing her baby bump while dressing up as the Virgin Mary for the holiday.

"I swear, I didn't sleep with anyone," she joked in the caption.

The singer later edited the caption to respond to anyone "offended" by the outfit: "Update: for those of you offended, chill out. I was raised Catholic, I meant it as no disrespect."

"She's the patron saint of expectant mothers and safe childbirth and I thought it would be the perfect costume for pregnant me to waddle around in," she continued. "I dressed up as St. Rose of Lima for her feast day in Catholic school I don't see how dressing up as Mary for Halloween is any different."

Branch added a prayer hands emoji, plus peace sign and smiley face emojis with a halo on their head.

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Branch announced her pregnancy news in August after she revealed last December that she had suffered a miscarriage.

She and Carney, 41, previously welcomed their first child, 3-year-old son Rhys James, in August 2018. She later tied the knot with the Black Keys drummer at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans in April 2019. She also shares daughter Owen Isabelle, 16, with ex-husband Teddy Landau, to whom she was married from 2004 to 2015.

Speaking with PEOPLE about co-parenting with Landau back in April 2017, Branch said, "I luckily have a very wonderful ex-husband, and I can say that, and I know a lot of people in my shoes can't."

"Everyone enters a relationship with the best of intentions, and we grew apart," she continued at the time. "Having our daughter together was really the balancing factor when everything was kind of coming to a close. It was easy to focus on her and worry about how she felt and making it normal for her; it allowed us not to get too caught up in our own s---."