Skillet frontman John Cooper described the scandal surrounding former Newsboys frontman Michael Tait as a “shame and a tragedy for the Church” and urged others in the CCM industry to issue a “full-throated condemnation of these acts.”
In an episode of his “Cooper Stuff” podcast titled “Michael Tait, Christian Music, and The Gospel That Doesn’t Look The Other Way,” the 50-year-old artist said he felt a “burden from the Lord” to address the allegations surrounding Tait.
Tait, the former frontman of DC Talk and Newsboys, was accused by multiple men of sexual assault, including incidents where victims were allegedly drugged or intoxicated and touched without consent. He later admitted to living a “double life,” confessing to “unwanted sensual” contact and years of cocaine and alcohol abuse.
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“I feel a burden from the Lord. The Lord would not let me rest. I was so conflicted,” Cooper said, explaining why he decided to address the situation. “I don’t want to do this, but the Lord would not leave me alone about it. Because I’ve got to be honest, I am very dissatisfied with the comments that I have seen from CCM that seem so heavily vested in the idea, which has some truth to it, of ‘Hey, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Hey, we all need to have grace. We’re all sinners. We need to focus on my own sin.’ Obviously, these things are true, but that is not where we need to begin.”
“We need a full-throated condemnation of these acts, not a condemnation of people. We’re not condemning people. We’re condemning the actions of people. Full-throatedly, unapologetically, we do not shrink back,” he added.
Cooper, who also serves on the board of Ascent Church in Nashville, stressed that “our testimony to the world is at stake” and emphasized that the survivors of Tait’s alleged abuse must be “prioritized.”
“My focus is those who have been victimized, allegedly abused, sexually assaulted by Michael Tait,” he said, describing the reports as “very dark” and voicing his support for those who have “spoken up.”
During the hour-long episode, Cooper criticized what he lamented as a tendency in Evangelical Christian culture to downplay the severity of abuse in the name of grace or unity.
“It is improper to jump straight to [a mentality of] we’ve got to be loving, we’re all sinners, we’ve all fallen short, and we can’t bring judgment,” he said. “Yes, we’re all sinners. There’s a time for that … but there are categories on the front of this that we cannot skip.”
Referencing Tait’s public confession of living a “double life” and touching “men in an unwanted sensual way,” Cooper said, “I appreciate that Michael gave the confession with all my heart. … It was written very well, and he didn’t make excuses. And I champion that. At the same time … he gave the confession after it blew up.”
“Do you know what it would have been like [if Tait] would have confessed to this a long time ago, in order to bring repair to people, in order to maybe stop people’s lives from being shipwrecked?” Cooper asked. “This sort of thing shipwrecks people because it shames the Gospel.”
He continued, “We cannot turn a blind eye to this level of alleged injustice. We cannot do that!”
Cooper said the scandal raises serious questions about the witness of Christian artists: “What kind of Gospel are we displaying to the world when … our biggest, most passionate, most famous Christian music icons … say, ‘I’ve been living a double life since the beginning?’”
“It makes it feel like our Gospel is not real,” he added.
While emphasizing that the Christian faith is one of forgiveness and redemption, Cooper made clear that grace should not eclipse justice.
“This stuff is so egregious, and it shames the Gospel to such a huge level,” he said. “We’re not condemning people. We’re condemning the actions of people full-throatedly, unapologetically. We do not shrink back.”
“The Gospel also demands that you stand up for justice,” he said. “If the whole world became Christian and we began to live like Christians, there would be none of this sexual abuse. … The power of the Gospel makes demands on your life.”
Cooper emphasized that the CCM industry must unequivocally condemn Tait’s actions, adding: “This is not the Gospel of Christ. We cannot continue to do this.”
Although he expressed hope that Tait’s apology was genuine, Cooper expressed skepticism that true repentance had been demonstrated.
“Even if it is real, that does not deny that he did some really bad stuff to these victims,” he said. “We don’t want PR, and we don’t want platform restoration. … We need real, painful, public turning from sin.”
Cooper also urged fellow Christians to process the news by supporting survivors.
“We grieve for the victims … not just prayers,” he said. “We need to be giving voice to people like this. We need to continue to call for action. We need to call for justice. We’ve got to call for truth.”
He also called on those within the industry to acknowledge systemic problems.
“Recognizing and saying, ‘I’m in CCM, I’m a part of the problem,’” he said. “I’m not part of the problem in the sense that I knew these things. I did not. I’m as shocked as you are about them. But I’m in CCM. I want to recognize the egregious nature, and we’re not going to candy-coat it.”
“There are some people saying this was an open secret. [That] everybody knew this. I find that very difficult to believe,” he said. “I did not know this. I find it very difficult to believe that everybody in CCM knew that there were alleged sexual assault victims.”
Still, he stressed, “We are in compromise. We are not doing enough.”
“Do we want restoration? Do we want forgiveness?” he asked. “Do we want grace for Michael Tait? Of course we want grace. I love Michael. I will not stop loving Michael,” he said. “Am I capable of doing absolutely outlandish, wretched things if I do not continue day by day by day to walk in the fear of the Lord and to keep His Commandments? Yeah, you bet. Are you capable? Yeah, you bet we are. We are a people of radical grace, not cheap grace.”
“And we have got to begin to live consistent with the Word of God,” Cooper concluded. “Final word: Stay salty, stay bold, walk in the light, even if it costs you everything.”
