Even the Church of Satan is a big fan of new Lil Nas X single, J Christ (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for MTV)
The Church of Satan has shown support for the new Lil Nas X single J Christ after the singer was criticised by Christians for queer Biblical imagery in his music video.
The 24-year-old rapper and singer released the music video for J Christ on Friday (12 January), filled with celebrity lookalikes, religious imagery, and even himself as the queer reincarnation of Jesus Christ himself, wearing a gold choker spelling the word “SEXY”.
The lyrics themselves also have religious tones, including the line: “Back up out the gravesite/Bitch I’m back like J Christ.”
While the video has attracted backlash from Christians, the Church of Satan has supported the star, with magister David Harris reportedly telling TMZ the imagery of the video is “fantastic”.
Harris added that his church doesn’t actually worship Satan, and instead believes in being your true self, and putting effort into personal achievement.
After the release of J Christ, Lil Nas X explained that he was not trying to “mock” Christianity or Jesus with his use of imagery.
Christian rapper Bryson Gray appeared on Fox News to criticise the video, telling the outlet: “I think that he is mocking Christianity. He is mocking Christ. That’s why he uses Christian imagery to do it.
“He’s doing it with the goal to mock us because that’s how he gets his clicks.”
In a post shared on X/Twitter, Lil Nas X explained: “The crazy thing is nowhere in the picture is a mockery of Jesus. Jesus’ image is used throughout history in people’s art all over the world.”
He added: “I’m not making fun of s**t. Y’all just gotta stop trying to gatekeep a religion that was here before any of us were even born.”
Lil Nas X later apologised in an Instagram video, adding: “I didn’t mean to mock, this wasn’t like a ‘f**k you’… it was literally me saying ‘I’m back’. I’m not the first person to dress up as Jesus… I won’t be the last”, adding that the criticism had “taken a mental toll”.
Lil Nas X has previously spoken about Christian backlash to his music, claiming in 2022 that the BET Awards had made him give “assurances that I was not a Satanist or devil worshipper” before allowing him to perform.