Former Newsboys Frontman Michael Tait Facing Serious Accusations Over Why He Left Band
Former Newsboys lead singer and DC Talk founder Michael Tait has been the subject of a maelstrom of rumor and innuendo over why he suddenly stepped down from the band that he fronted for a decade, with a noted and prominent LGBTQ activist claiming he left because he was outed as a gay man, while also accusing him of being a serial sexual abuser and a predator.
Azariah Southworth is leading the unsubstantiated and unproven charges against Tait. If that name sounds familiar, he once hosted ‘The Remix,’ a syndicated Christian TV show that averaged 200,000 viewers a week and followed bands like Avalon, Superchick, Jars of Clay, and Rachel Lampa on tour.
He is also the one who famously outed Christian writer and reporter Jonathan Merritt more than a decade ago.
In a series of TikTok videos that have been viewed over a million times, receiving hundreds of thousands of likes and comments and sparking murmurs across social media, Southworth, who presently also hosts the YassJesus podcast, initially explained that he exposed Michael Tait as a homosexual because Tait is an “adamant Trump supporter” and has been using his “large evangelical fan base to legitimize Donald Trump.”
“Back in 2005, 2006, I was on the Shoutfest Music Festival Tour that Michael Tait was headlining. I shared a bus with Rachel Lampa and Jump 5. And I was working on a Christian reality show that showed the lives of these Christian bands on the road. And I grew up in a Christian Zionist, Christian nationalist home, where we only listened to Christian music, watched Christian television. We even chewed Christian bubble gum called Testamints.
So someone like Michael Tait was a rock star to me. And I thought that the values that he portrayed on stage would also reflect backstage, but they didn’t. And one thing that I learned while I was on tour with Michael Tait is that he is a homosexual.
So to all those MAGA evangelicals out there who think that Michael Tait is such a good, God-fearing man, Homegirl is a performer. She’s been doing this dance and number for a very long time. And the gig is up.
A day after the video was released, Tait suddenly announced that he was leaving Newsboys.
Taking credit for the departure, Southworth released another video about Tait leaving the band and dismissed the given reason that he left after much ‘praying and fasting’ to pursue new things.
Gloating that he is seemingly responsible for the exit, he offers: “So Michael, I know I have your ear, and I hope you hear this. God loves you and affirms you as a gay man or however you identify sexually. And being something other than straight is not a sin. Period. Full stop.”
He later wondered out loud to his followers, “I broke up the Newsboys. Am I the Christian version of Yoko Ono?”
Then things took a darker turn. In a quick follow-up, he released yet another video making much more serious and similarly unsubstantiated allegations against Tait. This video received a million views and over a hundred thousand likes on TikTok, where he angrily insisted that Tait is a monster and sexual abuser who is about to be exposed by investigative journalists.
When I saw Michael Tait advocating for Donald Trump, who is actively doing my community and my trans-siblings measurable harm, he lost every bit of privacy. He lost his right to privacy. So that’s why I outed him.
Little did I know that Michael Tait is not just gay. He’s a motherf****** monster.
Multiple people have come forward with sexual assault allegations. Investigative journalists have been working on this for years.
I was the only one willing enough to go public with it.
So, you wanna know why I outed Michael Tait? That’s why. It was also the worst kept secret in all of Christian music. Any insider could tell you, ‘oh yeah, Michael’s gay.’
He’s a deceiver, he’s a fraud, and he’s a predator.”
In his most recent video, Southworth points to a recent news story where anchorman Aaron Perlman interviewed Adam Agee, the guitarist for Newsboys, who has replaced Tait as the new lead singer.
Agee confirmed that Tait’s departure was very sudden, occurring four days before their tour began. Since then, he gone back into the studio and re-recorded vocals for finished songs where Tait was previously the lead singer. This recording includes their new single ‘How Many Times,’ which was released six months ago.
Southworth insists that the Newsboys “erasing (Tait’s) voice from the new record” is very suspicious and proves that the band is trying to get ahead of the story about to break.
Azariah has not provided any evidence for these allegations, nor any documentation for his claims. So far, his accusations are serious in nature, but not serious in substantiation.
We reached out to the Newsboys and Michael Tait for comment but did not receive a response.
We also contacted Southworth for comment, and he responded, “Absolutely not. You and your bad theology can f*** off.”
Editor’s Note. This is not something that we typically report on, given the salacious nature and utter lack of proof being provided. It is not something we like to give oxygen to.
However, given that this whisper campaign against Tait is beginning to permeate the conversation and is being shared much more frequently, and given the growing exposure it has already received in “exvangelical” circles, we believe it helpful to note and document where it is coming from and the source of these rumors and allegations.
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