Comedian John Crist Reappears With Apology, Admission of Responsibility for Past Actions
John Crist is back.
Back on social media, that is. After an eight-month silence as he worked on what he calls “personal issues” surrounding the areas of his alleged sexual harassment and other improper treatment of women, a story Charisma News broke in November 2019, the popular Christian comedian has reappeared.
When the allegations surfaced, Crist issued a brief apology and cancelled his upcoming tour. Netflix then pulled a planned special with the Christian comedian, and Christian publisher Waterbrook put his book contract on hold.
Crist posted a video on Instagram in which he shares his heartfelt thanks to those who have stood by him during this season of change and challenge.
“I want to say that I made a lot of poor choices in my personal life, that I made a lot of decisions that hurt myself, that hurt other people and that embarrassed myself and had consequences,” Crist says in the video. “And I can look you in the eye and own that.”
Unlike his first inclination to turn to social media to defend himself, Crist now says, “Those choices were on me … I point the fingers at no one else but myself.”
“I had a problem, and I needed to get some help,” he adds. “And that’s what I’ve been doing for the last eight months, and that’s what I’ll continue to do: to put a priority on my own mental health. So let me just say thank you.”
Crist, who admits he has made a career of pointing out hypocrisy in other believers, points out the obvious irony: “Perhaps the most embarrassing part of this whole thing is that the biggest hypocrite in all this was me, that I was portraying a person on the internet that I was not behaving like privately.” And again, he says, “That’s on me.”
He also shares his desire to be part of the solution to problems like those he has experienced. “I’ve been doing that in my personal life and would like to make that transition to continue doing that publicly,” he says. But he also acknowledges that “If I didn’t take the time to fix the broken pieces of myself, I wasn’t going to be good for anybody.”
Crist closes his post with no announcement of future plans, just a cryptic “I can’t wait for the future; I’ll see you soon.”
Please join the Charisma Media staff in continuing to pray for Crist and those affected by his past actions. {eoa}
