Pregnant Michelle Branch responds to criticism of her dressing as the Virgin Mary for Halloween: 'For those of you offended, chill out'

Expectant singer Michelle Branch's Halloween costume did not go unnoticed.

While she originally captioned a photo of herself dressed as the Virgin Mary, "I swear, I didn't sleep with anyone," she later added an 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. I dressed up as St. Rose of Lima for her feast day in Catholic school [sic] I don't see how dressing up as Mary for Halloween is any different."

Singer Kacey Musgraves was just one on Branch's celebrity friends who cheered on her costume. The "Justified" singer commented that it was "brilliant." Celeb chef Andrew Zimmerman, meanwhile, told Branch, "You just won Halloween." And Brothers Osbourne's John Osbourne wrote simply, "Hahaha."

Branch announced in August that she and her husband, the Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, were expecting their second child. This followed her revelation in December that she had suffered a miscarriage.

"Couldn't be more excited (and nervous! Hello, pregnancy after miscarriage anyone?!) to announce baby Carney is coming early 2022!" she captioned a photo of freshly made scones. She explained that a friend's photos of scones she'd had in England had prompted her to whip up her own batch, market visit and all. "You know you're pregnant when..." she wrote.

Branch and Carney already have one son, Rhys James Carney, born in 2018. Branch also has a teenage daughter, Owen Isabelle, whose father is Branch's ex-husband, guitarist Teddy Landau. (They were married in 2004 and split a decade later.)

Last year, she dressed as a witch, with little Rhys as her black cat. Carney went as the Kentucky Fried Chicken mascot, Col. Sanders.