One month after sharing a video of her baptism on Instagram, Kat Von D is opening up about what her walk with Christ is looking like. Von D recently joined Christian conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey on her podcast, “Relatable,” to discuss her conversion and what her life looks like now. Prior to joining Stuckey, Von D, who now attends Switzerland Baptist Church in Vevay, IN, had shared she was unsure about sharing too much publicly about her conversion. “I don’t feel equipped to be the poster child for Christianity. I think that I’m still learning, and as I do, I will become more equipped. But for the time being, I feel like I’ve never really been that, and I don’t plan on doing that,” she shared. She did leave open the possibility to being on Stuckey’s show, calling Stuckey a friend.
Joining “Relatable,” Von D discussed her upbringing, having been raised by Christian missionaries in Mexico. She rebelled, however, and ran away when she was 14. Previously, Von D had shared her experiences after her parents sent her to Provo Canyon School in Utah, which was brought under scrutiny after heiress and reality star Paris Hilton revealed abuses she had experienced while attending the center. Von D stated she had similar experiences to Hilton and that her parents had sent her there after she began listening to punk music. “It raised a lot of red flags for them, and I think that they were just terrified that I was going down the wrong path. I started tattooing, I dropped out of high school, and I think they just didn’t know what to do with me,” she stated. Her experiences at the center also led to her taking alcohol and drugs, which she would struggle with for years after. Von D did tell Stuckey she has made amends with her family.
In her 20s, Von D had a lot of questions and resisted authority, leading her to seek out occult practices such as meditation and witchcraft. “I was just searching for answers and meaning in so many of the wrong places, like most people do,” she told Stuckey. She was able to get sober but still felt non-Christian spirituality was a crutch. “I don’t want these crutches in my life anymore, and that’s what really I saw them as. I just want Jesus, and it’s a very narrow road. I feel like all these other, these breathing techniques, or spell work, nature worship, all these things, they’re just crutches. They’re not really my answer.” After the lockdowns and experiencing BLM riots, she began to reevaluate her life. “I would look around at my Christian friends, and I’m like, they’re not perfect by any means, but I want what you have, you know? Like, I love the light that you have.” That led to her pursuing Christianity more fully. “I’m on fire for Jesus,” she said. “I don’t plan on this dimming out. The more and more I learn, the more excited I get about things and the more at ease I am about what’s happening in this world and what’s happening in my marriage, in all of it.” She stated Christianity has helped her to be a better wife and mother. “…it’s like a deprogramming has taken place. Things that I used to find attractive are disgusting to me, you know? And it’s like, I wish I could put into words like how amazing those changes are.”
Not everything has gone smoothly. Von D shared some people, Christians and non-Christians alike, were critical of her baptism video. “Other people were like, ‘She’s faking it, this is just for a PR stunt,’” she recalled. Von D’s husband, Rafael Reyes, has also been criticized. Reyes attends services with Von D but has not yet made a decision to follow Christ. “We go to church together every Sunday; he always supports me, and we pray together. But there’s part of him that’s still questioning, and after getting so much grief from people that spilled over into my husband. I remember the next morning, he was like, ‘Babe, I don’t want to be a part of that.’” Instead of criticism, she asked for prayer. “If these people genuinely cared about me or my husband, instead of picking us apart or picking him apart, I would hope that you would just pray for us instead.” Please be in prayer for Kat Von D as she grows in her faith and for her husband as well.