Former Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston said an odd post that appeared on his social media account last week saying, “Ladies and girls kissing,” was an attempt to discredit him.

Last Tuesday night, the “kissing” post was published on Houston’s X (formerly Twitter) account. About 15 minutes later, Houston posted, “I think my Twitter may have been hacked.” Both posts have since been deleted.

Now, Houston’s “final comment” on the issue is that the post was a “deliberate attempt” to embarrass him.

“A number of people have had access to my social media accounts,” he said. “We have concluded that someone known to me posted an unauthorized tweet in a deliberate attempt to embarrass and discredit me. Password now changed.”

Final comment: A number of people have had access to my social media accounts. We have concluded that someone known to me posted an unauthorized tweet in a deliberate attempt to embarrass and discredit me. Password now changed.

— Brian Houston (@BrianCHouston) February 26, 2024

Houston has also shared a post from a user called Yolanda, who said she is his assistant.

“Ps Brian’s assistant here! Rest assured we are working on discovering how Ps Brian was hacked,” she wrote. “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.”

She added that users should “disregard anything that seems out of the normal” and remember that “Pastor Brian does not contact anyone privately.”

Around 20 minutes after Houston published his “final comment” on the issue, he shared the verse Proverbs 19:28: “An unprincipled witness desecrates justice; the mouths of the wicked spew malice.”

Comments have been limited on Yolanda’s post and Houston’s still published posts.

However, some users had previously commented on Houston’s posts and speculated that Houston’s mistaken X post was actually a Google search, according to Church Leaders.

“Don’t mix your Twitter with Google searches,” one person said.

Another user responded, “(Some) one that hacked Brian Houston’s and then allowed him to recover it in 16 minutes.”

Houston’s “kissing” post comes during multiple years of scandals for the former Hillsong pastor.

Houston, who co-founded Hillsong Church with his wife, Bobbie, resigned from the megachurch in 2022 due to alleged sexual misconduct, The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported. An internal investigation revealed Houston had acted inappropriately toward two women. Houston had allegedly spent time alone in a hotel room with a woman, not his wife, in 2019 after consuming anti-anxiety medication and alcohol, the board of directors of Hillsong said.

He has since complained that he was “betrayed,” “lied about,” and “defrauded.”

Then in April 2023, Houston pleaded guilty to charges in California of driving under the influence of alcohol after a prior arrest on Feb. 26, 2022, which was less than a month before his resignation from Hillsong.

Houston also made headlines last fall when an Australian court found Houston not guilty of concealing sex abuse by his father, Frank Houston, and not reporting it to the police in August, TRR previously reported.

Sydney Court Magistrate Gareth Christofi ruled that Houston had a reasonable excuse for not reporting his father’s crimes.

Houston and his wife are currently focused on starting a weekly online ministry and church, he announced last November. “I’m excited about building this new community,” he said.

The pair has now created a new website featuring their bio, posts authored by each of them, their books, ways to connect with them, and videos of “Church Online.”

Freelance journalist Liz Lykins writes for WORLD Magazine, Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, and other publications.