Brian Houston says his X account was 'compromised': ‘I do not watch pornography’
Days after an explicit pornographic video appeared on his X account, Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston assured supporters that he doesn't watch pornography and alleged that someone with access to one of his devices compromised the account.
“I wanted to take a moment to speak to people personally and address a vile post that appeared on my X account a few days ago. A good starting point is to say, I do not watch pornography, not online, not on social media, nowhere else,” the founder of the Australia-based global megachurch declared in a video on Facebook Wednesday.
“I've been in active ministry for over 54 years, and in that time, I've seen the fallout of pornography on individuals, on marriages, on families, and I detest it.”
The 72-year-old Houston said at the time the post appeared on his X page that he and his wife, Bobbie, were “in bed.”
Taking issue with The Christian Post’s use of the word "hacked" in last week's report, Houston clarified that he never used the word hacked and instead said "compromised," adding that there is a difference between an account being hacked and compromised.
“According to The Christian Post, and probably others, they said, and a tweet that I did since then, that I said that I was hacked. I never used the word hacked. That's false. It's untrue. I did say my account was compromised, and you might say, 'Well, what's the difference?' But I think that there's a difference,” he explained.
“I don't believe that it's likely that anyone actually hacked into my X account. Not impossible, but not likely. I think there's a different explanation. I believe that someone has used one of my own devices, using my own passcode, to access my phone without my knowledge or my permission.
"Someone with a grudge wanted to cause maximum damage, but perhaps minimum effort, to smear me and to humiliate me. And I don't think it's the first time it's happened.”
Houston, who, after leaving Hillsong, launched the ministry Jesusfollowers.tv with his wife, said in an X post last week: “This account was compromised overnight. Any odd posts, links, or messages shared earlier were not legitimate and have been reported and deleted. Thank you for your patience.”
The pastor further clarified that he didn’t believe this was the first time the unknown person had gained access to his accounts and said he and his wife were offended by the post.
“If you were exposed to that video, and you were disgusted or offended, I totally understand. Bobbie and I feel exactly the same way,” he said before asking for prayers.
“Bobbie and I are not quitters. We keep trucking on. I'm asking you to pray for us, and we will certainly continue to pray for all the people in our world. God bless you,” he ended.
In a separate incident in 2024, Houston said his X account was hacked after the account tweeted the words “ladies and girls kissing,” drawing scrutiny from social media users.
Houston later reposted a statement shared by one of his assistants urging users to disregard any recent posts that “seem out of the normal.”
“Rest assured we are working on discovering how Ps. Brian was hacked,” the statement read at the time. “Our team has ascertained that someone logged into his account from a location within the USA. We’ve changed his password so here’s hoping they no longer have access. Please disregard anything that seems out of the normal. For your safety remember Pastor Brian does not contact anyone privately.”
In January 2022, Hillsong Church announced that Houston was stepping down from his role at the church's helm.
Houston resigned as Hillsong Church’s global senior pastor in March 2022, amid revelations that two women made allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
Before his formal resignation from Hillsong Church, Houston initially stepped down from Hillsong's boards in September 2021 as he faced criminal charges related to allegations he concealed sex abuse committed by his father, Frank Houston, decades earlier after he heard about it in 1999. Houston denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian court later found him not guilty of the charges.
Four months before the acquittal, Houston pled guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more in California. He was also sentenced to three years' probation, a $140 fine, and other penalties.
Court records show that after an arrest on Feb. 26, 2022, Houston pled "not guilty" to driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more, and failing to display two license plates on the vehicle he was driving.
The Hillsong Church founder, who was set for a pre-trial hearing that June, reversed course on the drinking charges while the charge for failing to display two license plates on the vehicle he was driving was dismissed.
In addition to the three-year probation and the $140 fine he received for the driving under the influence charge, the court required him to complete a three-month first-offender alcohol program, victim impact counseling, and participate in self-help meetings for one year.
Hillsong Church said Houston violated the church’s pastoral code of conduct by entering the hotel room of an unidentified woman for 40 minutes while under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs during the church’s annual conference in 2019.
Houston doesn’t recall having sex with the woman, and the woman has not said if they had sex. Their accounts of what happened are not entirely reliable because they were impaired by alcohol, Dooley suggested in meeting with church staffers last Friday. Houston was also under the influence of anxiety medication.
Houston also exchanged an “inappropriate text message” with a staffer in 2013. According to Dooley, the text message was “along the lines of, ‘If I was with you I would like to give you a kiss and a cuddle or a hug.’” The staffer resigned shortly after. Hillsong Church blamed Houston’s actions in this case on “sleeping tablets.”
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Houston's troubles seem to reflect troubles with Hillsong leadership around the world. Conspiracy theorists like me tend to wonder what doors were left open for Satan to so attack so many leaders of Hillsong churches.
Carl Lentz, who led Hillsong Church in New York City and oversaw the East Coast operation of the megachurch in the United States, was fired in November 2020 over “leadership issues” and moral failures, including being unfaithful to his wife.
A month later, officials in the U.S. branch of the church confirmed with The Christian Post that they investigated and took action on a 2018 letter of complaint alleging inappropriate sexual relations between staff and volunteers at the Hillsong NYC location.
Then in February 2021, Anna Crenshaw, the daughter of a Pennsylvania pastor, reported that Hillsong staff administrator Jason Mays, a married volunteer singer and the son of the church’s head of human resources, sexually assaulted her at a social gathering while she attended Hillsong College in Australia. It took a serious fight from Crenshaw and her father to prosecute Mays, who is still listed as creative director and head of sync at Hillsong Music.
Crenshaw argued that Mays should have been fired. But in commenting on the case, Houston argued that “the Lord has forgiven Jason,” and he is just not a “sexual predator.”
“The Lord has forgiven Jason and we felt he deserved another chance after we weighed up the judge’s findings and comments. As well as giving consideration to the suspension Jason had served and the conditions he had met,” Houston said.
“He was restored to paid work and volunteering, which we believe to be in line with biblical principles of discipline and restoration. One thing I do know is that we are not talking about a sexual predator here. We’re talking about a young man, young married man who did something stupid. Got much drunker than he should, which is an issue that we should keep addressing, and got himself in a bad situation.”
In April 2021, it was revealed that former Hillsong Dallas Lead Pastor Reed Bogard and his wife, Jess, were under investigation for leadership failures when they abruptly resigned in January of that year, resulting in a pause of the Texas campus.
In May 2021, Darnell Barrett, creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey, resigned after claiming he accidentally sent explicit photos to a former church volunteer and confessed that he was unfaithful to his wife.
Other evidence, reviewed by CP, also suggests that Hillsong Church has fended off much more serious allegations of sexual misconduct by at least one former leader.
In their statement Wednesday, Hillsong Church leaders acknowledged that they still had much work to do concerning their governance structure and asked for prayers.
“As you can appreciate, there is still much to be done and our church leadership continues seeking God for His wisdom as we set the course for the future,” the statement said. “We acknowledge that change is needed. We have committed to an independent review of our governance structure and processes, understanding that this is a time of humble reflection and we are committed to doing what is necessary to ensure God is honored, and our eyes are fixed on Jesus.”
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