Lil Nas X Apologizes For Using Religious Imagery In 'J CHRIST'

Lil Nas X has issued an apology for upsetting people with the religious imagery he used in his latest song and music video "J CHRIST." Since announcing the single and its artwork, which features the rapper on the cross like Jesus, he's emphasized that he isn't trying to mock religion or religious people.

“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,” Lil Nas X said in the sincere video shared on Instagram. “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 his use of religious imagery and some of the online marketing strategies he used for the roll-out which included a video of him bingeing on the crackers and wine used for communion, sharing a fake acceptance letter to the Christian college Liberty University, and joking that he would be pivoting to gospel music.

"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,” he explained. “But I also didn’t mean to mock... this wasn’t a f—k you to the Christians. It was literally me saying I’m back like Jesus. 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. 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 went on to apologize for the communion video saying, "That was overboard."

Lil Nas X ended the video by reiterating that "the video, there’s not disrespect there. I thought me clearly not being on the side of the devil in the video was the … I don’t know, there was an understanding there that I’m not trying to diss Christianity. 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.”