Disgraced former Newsboys frontman Michael Tait, accused by multiple men of sexual abuse over 16 years, privately apologized to one of his alleged victims during a phone call in which he admitted to touching him “inappropriately.”
“When I first made the advances on you, touched you inappropriately, and it just bloomed out of control … it got the best of me,” Tait said during the 45-minute call recorded in July and released by The Roys Report. “All I can say is, from my heart, I’m truly sorry, man.”
The victim, identified by the pseudonym “Lucas,” said he met Tait at a music festival in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2000 when he was 19. Over the next several years, he alleges Tait, then in his mid-30s, groomed, manipulated and sexually assaulted him multiple times while using his fame and industry influence to maintain control.
Lucas told The Roys Report the assaults occurred between 2002 and 2010 and that Tait’s influence left him “utterly powerless to stand up for myself.” He said he finally recorded the call after Tait reached out from overseas to “make amends.”
“There’s no handbook on how to do this, except for the Bible,” Tait said during the call. “I’ve cried, I’ve prayed, I’ve dealt with addictions on every level. I’ve lied, I’ve cheated, I’ve deceived, I’ve destroyed my world … but it all started somewhere.”
The apology came after a series of reports by The Guardian and The Roys Report detailing allegations from several men who accused Tait of sexual assault, grooming and drug use over two decades.
Tait, 59, left the Newsboys in January and later released a public statement titled My Confession, acknowledging “unwanted sensual” touching of men and drug and alcohol abuse, but disputed some details.
Lucas described Tait as “charismatic” and “manipulative,” recalling early encounters that began as mentorship and evolved into coercion. “Michael used his power and position in the industry to coerce me into situations that I always tried to get out of,” he said.
According to Lucas, Tait’s behavior escalated after inviting him to stay at his Brentwood, Tennessee, mansion in 2003. That night, Lucas said, he awoke to find Tait sexually assaulting him. “I froze,” he said. “I got in my car and drove home.”
Though Tait apologized afterward and denied being gay, Lucas said the abuse continued over the following year, with Tait using his status to pressure him. The assaults ended after Lucas married, but the trauma lingered.
When the two reconnected this year, Tait said he had been clean and sober since January and admitted that Lucas wasn’t the only victim. He also acknowledged the fallout from his actions: “We’ve lost everything. The band’s done. Management’s done. But it took that to get me to my knees.”
Tait told Lucas his mentors had warned him against reaching out, but said he felt compelled to seek forgiveness. “You can hang me at the gallows, or you can say, ‘Hey, I forgive you,’” he said.
Lucas said he forgave Tait but has not heard from him since. He said he decided to release the call to prevent Tait from regaining influence in the Christian music world.
“I don’t want him to make a comeback tour,” Lucas said. “He’s lived off the souls of other people for long enough. … “I’d like to see (Tait) in jail, to be honest, not because I get anything out of it. But I think that’s what’s deserved … I think that’s what’s owed to him.”
In August, one of Tait’s alleged victims of sexual assault said he is actively pursuing criminal charges against the former Newsboys frontman through the Brentwood Police Department in Tennessee, where a preliminary investigation is underway.
Shawn Davis, who alleges Tait raped him in 2003 after drugging him, told People he is helping to build a legal case against the Christian music star and believes “there are many more victims.”
“We’re trying to head this and do everything we can in our power to take him down,” Davis said. “Ultimately, in the end, the goal is to see him go to prison. We need every single victim possible to come forward. They deserve to know that they’re not the only ones, and they deserve to tell their story.”
In July, Skillet frontman John Cooper described the scandal surrounding 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.”
“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 said.
“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,” Cooper added. “Yes, we’re all sinners. There’s a time for that … but there are categories on the front of this that we cannot skip.”
