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American contemporary Christian music artist Michael Tait is currently making headlines after reports of se*ual misconduct and drug abuse surfaced. On June 4, 2025, The Roys Report released an interview with three men who have accused Tait of alleged se*ual assault and grooming under the influence of drugs.
Trigger warning: This article mentions s*xual assault, grooming, drug, and alcohol abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.
According to the alleged victims, the incidents took place in 2004, 2010, and 2014 during Christian music tours and at Michael's houses.
All three men claimed that they were approached by the former Newsboys band member when they were 22 years old. Two of them alleged they shared drinks with the accused before waking up next to Michael Tait, reportedly assaulting them. One also accused the musician of offering him cocaine and groping during a Newsboys bus tour.
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The third person claimed Michael, who has previously been a part of DC Talk, allegedly gave him a back massage during skinny dipping and later invited him to bed. However, he non-consensually touched his intimate areas. The Roys Report stated in their exclusive article that they would soon be releasing an interview from a fourth alleged victim.
While Michael Tait has not responded to the accusations yet, his former Australian Christian rock band, Newsboys, has released a statement via Instagram on June 5, 2025.
“Last night, our hearts were shattered when we read the news alleging drug abuse and inappropriate s*xual actions by our former lead singer, Michael Tait. While Michael has not addressed these allegations, we are devastated even by the implications,” the post read.
The statement also mentioned that when Tait, a former lead singer of the band, left in January of this year, he “confessed” to his bandmates and management that he had been “living a double life.” However, Newsboys “never imagined that it could be this bad.”
Existing band members Jody Davis, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein, and Adam Agee signed the statement and said, as husbands, fathers, and men of God’s music, they do not “condone any form of s*xual assault.” Michael Tait had been with Newsboys since 2009 before his departure this January.
Exploring further the allegations against Michael Tait
The Roys Report published an exclusive report on Wednesday that accused Michael Tait of s*xual offences, grooming, and alcohol and substance abuse, dating back to 2004.
“And after a two-and-a-half-year investigation by The Roys Report (TRR), which included interviewing more than 50 sources, TRR has documented Tait’s alleged predatory pattern with stories dating back more than two decades,” the article began.
According to TRR, misconduct reports against Michael Tait have swirled over the years. However, it came to light on January 15, 2025, when a TikToker named Azariah Southworth claimed in a video that Tait was “gay.” Meanwhile, the platform took the post down because it seemingly promoted “violent extremism.”
While Southworth didn’t provide more details, the following day, Michael announced he was exiting Newsboys. He wrote at the time that it was a “shock” to him, but he was aware that it was the “right decision.”
Now, five months later, TRR interviewed three men, all of whom have accused Michael Tait of s*xual assault. One of them, who has chosen to remain anonymous and has been dubbed as Steven, told TRR that in September 2010, he was a touring musician for Chris Sligh’s band and was asked to open for the Newsboys at a music festival in Maryland.
“I was a huge DC Talk fan. (And Tait) was just kind of like a weird idol,” Steven stated.
However, things took a turn when Michael Tait reportedly became “intensely focused” on him, Chris Sligh noted, calling Tait’s interaction with the youngster at the backstage pre-concert prayer “peeved” and “weird.”
According to Steven, he later reconnected with Tait at his workplace in Brentwood, Tennessee, two months later, where they exchanged phone numbers and began hanging out as friends.
It felt like a weird, like attraction sort of thing. They were texting all the time, and they got really close really fast. It was just love bombing, Tait was pouring it on to Steven in really interesting and kind of gross ways, looking back,” Sligh told TRR.
According to Steven, in early 2011, Michael invited him to his home in Brentwood and offered him several glasses of drinks, while also pouring for himself. It was reportedly during this visit that he passed out from alcohol consumption and woke up to Tait “kissing my mouth” and seemingly touching him intimately.
Steven mentioned that he had a “freeze response” and “didn’t know what to do.” Eventually, when Tait stopped the alleged assault, he left. Although he later told his girlfriend what happened in text messages reviewed by TRR, Steven reportedly refrained from telling Chris Sligh and his other bandmates for fear of being “excommunicated.”
The alleged victim shared that he continued to stay in touch with Michael Tait because he provided him with work opportunities. Later, when he broached the topic, the ex-Newsboys vocalist reportedly shrugged him off without a proper apology.
“A friend of mine, who’s in the industry, had said, ‘Hey, you know that that Tait thing with (Steven)—that happened, right? It happened to another friend of mine, and I think it’s like a real thing. It’s serious,’” Sligh told TRR about realizing it wasn’t an isolated incident.
Another alleged victim, who went by Phillip, told TRR that he was reportedly groomed by Michael in 2004. The worship musician met the former DC Talk member at a gig in Oklahoma and was later invited to his home in Nashville.
According to Phillip, he first approached Michael Tait as he was his fan, and later hung out with him in his hotel room and exchanged contact details. However, over the next few months, he was invited to hang out at the latter’s home twice.
While the first visit was fine, during the second one, they shared “lots of beer and cigarettes” before Michael seemingly suggested they go skinny dipping at his home spa. However, when other visitors began leaving, Tait reportedly got “intimate” with him and gave him a “back rub.”
Subsequently, when they got dressed, Michael Tait allegedly talked to Phillip about intimate details of himself. Later that night, the Empty singer reportedly gave him more back rubs without consent before touching his b*ttocks.
“And I’m (laying) there, like, kind of frozen. It’s a new friend, and you look up to him. (I) don’t want to blow up a friendship,” Phillip told TRR.
The alleged victim also mentioned protesting when Michael Tait touched him inappropriately, following which, the latter stopped and apologized. When he woke up in the morning, Michael was seemingly gone, and Phillip never heard from him again despite reaching out multiple times.
Phillip told TRR about mentioning it to his then-girlfriend and now-wife about the encounter, describing it as “a weird, failed romantic effort that (he) didn’t see coming.” According to him, he initially didn’t talk about his experience because he knew Michael Tait was a big name in the Christian music industry.
“At the time, I thought Tait’s behavior was an anomaly. But the more time I spent in Nashville circles, the more it sounded like a pattern, and that I might‘ve actually gotten off easy in my awkward encounter,” Phillip said about why he came out with his story now.
He added, “When the anecdotes I was hearing started seeming more dangerous and scary, instead of just s*xual or romantic, I wanted to help put a stop to this potentially happening again to others.”
In 2014, a man who chose to identify as Taylor claimed he was Michael Tait’s crew member during a Newsboys bus tour. During one such tour in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the duo was heavily drunk. Regardless, Michael reportedly offered him cocaine in the backseat of the bus early in the morning.
But Taylor allegedly declined and went to sleep. However, he soon woke up to realize that Michael Tait was allegedly assaulting him. While he recalled freezing in the moment, he also mentioned feeling bad for his senior member, adding he felt Tait was “pretty f**ked up.”
Taylor later told his wife and fellow Christian musician. However, he didn’t report the incident to band management and decided to forgive, as per his TRR interview. However, they came forward now in solidarity with another alleged victim whose story TRR is slated to publish soon.
Besides their latest Instagram statement addressing the allegations against their ex-bandmate, Newsboys also told TRR via their attorney, Samuel D. Lipshie:
“While we are aware of unsubstantiated aspersion cast via internet towards Mr. Tait and Newsboys by one particular individual, because your questions revolve around the alleged behavior and actions of Mr. Tait, it would be inappropriate for Newsboys to speculate or comment,” Lipshie stated.
“If what you allege can be supported with evidence, we would imagine Mr. Tait and his representatives will have something to say about the matter,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, on Instagram, Newsboys members Jody Davis, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein, and Adam Agee shared they were “horrified, heartbroken, and angry” by TRR’s report, and felt they and their families had been “deceived” for the past fifteen years.
