Lil Nas X Apologizes To Christians After ‘J Christ’ Video Backlash

Lil Nas X is reflecting on his controversial song and music video J CHRIST and offering an apology following backlash.

“I know I messed up really bad this time. I can act unbothered all I want, but it’s definitely taken a mental toll on me,” the singer said in a video he shared on Instagram on Jan. 15. “I’m not some evil demon guy trying to destroy everybody’s values and stuff like that. That’s not me.”

Lil Nas X went on to explain that he knew there would be some criticism to his artwork but his intention was not to make a mockery out of religion or people’s beliefs.

“When I did the artwork, I knew there would be some upset people simply because religion is a very sensitive topic for a lot of people. But I also didn’t mean to mock — this wasn’t a f— you to the Christians. It was literally me saying I’m back like Jesus,” he said.

Ahead of the release of J CHRIST, Lil Nas X joked that he was going to release gospel music and that he had been accepted to Christian college Liberty University, which the university had to deny the songwriter had been accepted. Lil Nas X also faced criticism for mocking the act of taking communion.

“I know given my history with the [Montero (Call Me by Your Name)] video, anything that I do related to religion can be seen as mockery,” he explained. “That just was not the case with this. I will say, though, with the communion video, with me eating the crackers and juice, I thought that video was going to lighten the mood to take it down less serious. I thought that was something we all wanted to do as kids, but I didn’t understand the idea of the reality of what it is.”

He continued, “I didn’t mean it as a cannibalism thing, or whatever the freak. But I do apologize for that. That was overboard. Though I don’t agree with all of Christianity’s rules, I know not everybody follows Christianity by the book 100% or the world would be a lot crazier.”

In his closing statement, he addressed his Christian fans saying, “I know this isn’t going to be an immediate swift, everybody moves forward. But I do want my Christian fans to know that I am not against you. I was put on this earth to bring people closer together and promote love. That’s who I am.”

Watch Lil Nas X’s full video apology below.