Lil Nas X Apologises For Offending With 'J Christ' Video: 'Messed Up Really Bad'
“I’m not an evil demon guy trying to destroy someone’s values. That’s not me.”
Lil Nas X (Supplied)
Lil Nas X has taken to social media overnight and apologised for offending members of the Christian community with his controversial new single, J Christ.
In case you missed it: last week, the rapper (real name Montero Lamar Hill) released a music video and accompanying imagery for his new song. The single is titled J Christ, and its cover imagery shows Lil Nas X being crucified.
The artwork depicts Lil Nas X lying on a giant black cross, propped up in a field by five people clad in modern designer clothing. The rapper himself dons a flowing yellow loincloth, echoing the depiction of Jesus in Diego Velázquez’s iconic 1632 painting Christ Crucified. Lil Nas X stirred further controversy last week by eating communion bread and drinking wine while dressed as Jesus in a sped-up TikTok video.
MY NEW SINGLE IS DEDICATED TO THE MAN WHO HAD THE GREATEST COMEBACK OF ALL TIME!
— ✟ (@LilNasX) January 8, 2024
J CHRIST
JANUARY 12, 2024
00:00 EST
BE THERE! pic.twitter.com/JEX6sSTft5
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Referencing the “mental toll” of the backlash he’s received with the rollout of J Christ, Lil Nas X said in an apologetic four-and-a-half-minute video, “I know I messed up really bad this time, and I can act unbothered all I want, but it’s definitely taking a mental toll on me.”
He explained that he never meant to offend any fans or religious communities, acknowledged that “religion is a sensitive topic," and continued, “I didn’t mean to mock. This wasn’t a ‘Fuck you to you people. Fuck you to the Christians.’ It was not that.
“It was ‘I’m back like Jesus’. I’m not the first person to dress up as Jesus. I’m not the first rapper, I’m not the first artist, and I won’t be the last.”
Discussing the criticism of his communion TikTok clip, Lil Nas X admitted that he didn’t realise his video would offend.
“I didn’t understand the reality of how me eating the communion [bread] is the symbolism of Jesus’ blood and bones or something like that,” he said. “I did not mean it as a cannibalism thing or whatever the freak. But I do apologise for that. I will say I’m sorry for that. That was overboard.”
Lil Nas X concluded the video by stating that he wasn’t “trying to diss Christianity” and that he was “put on this Earth to bring people closer together and promote love. That’s who I am.
“I’m not an evil demon guy trying to destroy someone’s values. That’s not me.”
You can watch the video below.
Lil Nas X’s return to the spotlight arrived after he made waves for responding to a homophobic “joke” made by Dave Chappelle in his latest Netflix special, The Dreamer, in which Chappelle called the rapper “the gayest n***** that ever lived”.
Lil Nas X responded to Chappelle’s joke in a tweet, quipping that critics have “gotta let Call Me By Your Name go”. He added: “Me and the Devil broke up three years ago. Y’all acting like children of divorce.”
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