Christian singer Forrest Frank said he lost nearly 30,000 Instagram followers after posting about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, but he told followers he was untroubled by the decline and planned to continue using his platform to share his faith.
Frank posted a tearful video on Instagram in which he played a clip of Kirk praising Frank's Christian music before addressing the Sept. 10 shooting at Utah Valley University. In the video Frank said he could not continue posting music without first speaking about the attack and declared "Jesus Christ is Lord." He later posted an update on Sept. 14 saying his audience had shrunk by tens of thousands since the initial video.
Frank's original post drew significant engagement, with the video receiving more than 1 million likes and nearly 20,000 comments, according to his Instagram page. In the follow-up clip he said, "30,000 people unfollowed me because I posted about Charlie Kirk and I said Jesus Christ is Lord. Good. I don't want you to follow me." In the caption to one post, he wrote, "i don't care if you follow me, but i do care if you follow Jesus. i have nothing else to share but this one message and i repent for ways i've allowed my platform to be a lukewarm highlight real. From here on out i'm using as much energy as i can to let people know about the only thing that matters."
Responses in the comment threads included both support and criticism. Several users praised Frank for speaking out and for prioritizing his faith. One comment read, "Thank you for speaking up!" while others expressed encouragement or approval for his stance.
Kirk was shot while hosting a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Sept. 10. Authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm and obstruction of justice, according to a court affidavit. A judge ordered Robinson held without bail; prosecutors said formal charges were expected to be filed Tuesday.
The shooting prompted widespread attention and comment from public figures and on social media. Frank framed his remarks as a response to the violence and as a call to prioritize religious conviction over maintaining a broad online following. He said he felt a "heaviness" in the aftermath of the attack and that he would no longer present his platform as a "lukewarm highlight reel."
Frank, who has built a sizable audience as a Christian artist, will face the same public scrutiny many performers encounter when they take public positions on politically charged events. The episode illustrates the potential consequences for artists who connect their public work with explicit religious or political statements in the immediate aftermath of high-profile incidents.
Frank did not provide a detailed breakdown of his follower counts before and after the posts beyond his statements about losing "tens of thousands." His account continues to host the videos and accompanying captions at the time of this report, and comments remain active under those posts.