(Charisma) – New Orleans, Louisiana’s mayor, Latoya Cantrell, called for Christian artist Lauren Daigle’s removal from ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special program. The mayor’s outcry, she said, was based on the singer placing people at risk when participating at Sean Feucht’s Louisiana Let Us Worship event.

The November worship service in the French Quarter was conducted without a permit, Cantrell said in a letter to Dick Clark Productions. “The event was unpermitted, and in violation of critical health guidelines my administration has put in place to save lives in our city,” the mayor said, noting that having Daigle as a guest at the New Year’s Eve event would be an unwarranted “reward.”

A Louisiana native, Daigle serves as an ambassador for promoting Louisiana tourism. “Lauren is also the state’s voice of the Sunshine Tourism Recovery Plan. Tourism is the 4th largest industry in our state generating over $19 billion in revenue for our economy,” Louisiana Lt. Gov. Bill Nungesser wrote, criticizing the mayor’s actions.

“The last four years, the state of Louisiana and Louisiana Office of Tourism has sponsored ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve broadcast to millions of viewers from the iconic Jackson Square at midnight CST after the ball drops in New York, promoting the City of New Orleans and our state,” Nungesser told WDSU. “READ MORE