Alex Magala hits back at Mark Driscoll, says he's Christian, sword performance was meant to inspire
Alex Magala, the aerial sword-swallower and acrobat who admitted he stripped for gay men and women as a younger man, says he is Christian and called Pastor Mark Driscoll's recent criticism of his performance at James River Church's Stronger Men's Conference in Missouri, an "uninformed" position.
"Pastor Mark Driscoll's remarks about my act failed to recognize the difference between a male strip tease and a stunt performance rooted in art and sport," Magala said in a statement posted on his Instagram page Wednesday.
"Only an uninformed person would draw a comparison between my act and an inappropriate performance. I feel that this danger act is perfect for the Stronger Men's Conference. It provides inspiration to the audience and permission for them to reach new heights of what's possible in their lives."
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Magala said he is a Christian and has "always aimed to use my talents to inspire and entertain audiences in a way that respects my faith."
"The act in question was designed to be a celebration of physical human achievements and is aligned with James River Church's purpose in bringing others into the light of God," Magala added. "It's essential to approach such performances with an understanding of their intention rather than reducing them to mere entertainment."
A viral video clip of Magala's sword-swallowing performance, which made him famous on family-friendly shows like "America's Got Talent" and "Britain's Got Talent," followed by Driscoll's response to it, has already sparked a wave of comments on social media and headlines in a variety of publications like USA Today. Driscoll insisted on Monday that the outlet misinterpreted what he means by the Jezebel spirit.
"Merriam-Webster defines a jezebel as 'an impudent, shameless, or morally unrestrained woman.' It's a derogatory word akin to 'tramp,' and, according to the Jim Crow Museum, has ties to racism and anti-black imagery," USA Today reported.
Driscoll, the outspoken senior pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, responded to USA Today.
"The Jezebel spirit is not a synonym for 'tramp,' and it's got nothing to do with racism. The Jezebel spirit is a demon that has worked through men and women for centuries, from Queen Jezebel in 1st Kings to Jesus's rebuke of the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2," he wrote on X. "This demon seeks to control and dominate, most often through seductive women but oftentimes through overbearing, domineering men. I literally wrote the book on this. I want to give it away absolutely free. I get nothing out of it; I just want men and women to learn more about the spiritual war behind the war we see."
In his book New Days, Old Demons, Driscoll presents a "prophetic study of sex, gender, woke politics, and how progressive Christianity is just a rebranding of ancient paganism. The same demons that were active in the days of Elijah are active today castrating the men, mutilating the children, closing the churches, and silencing the Bible teachers."
In his critique of Magala's performance at the Stronger Men's Conference, which ran from April 11-12 at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Driscoll objected to the performance, arguing that it embodied the Jezebel spirit. It was unclear whether he was aware of Magala's performance before the event.
In 2016, while Magala's star was rising as a family-friendly sword swallower on "Britain's Got Talent," a Daily Mail report revealed that Magala also worked as a pole-dancing striptease artist in Los Angeles and Las Vegas for women and gay men.
"My life is like a movie," Magala told the publication. "Perhaps you've seen in films when a killer gets a text about his next victim. I have the same story. I receive the address of the club, the time, and the color of underwear. I arrive at the place: lights, music, fire."
Though Magala points out that fellow acrobats, the Ramadhani Brothers, also performed shirtless at the conference, as they are known to do, Driscoll appeared to single him out for criticism.
"We're going to talk about how to be an Elijah and how to deal with the average Jezebel. But let me do this," Driscoll said, kneeling in a video of his critique of Magala's performance at the conference posted on X.
"I've been up since 1 in the morning. The reason I'm hoarse is I've been praying for you, and my heart is very burdened for you. I want to be very careful with this, and it's not what I want to say, but the Jezebel spirit has already been here. The Jezebel spirit opened our event. This is a rebuke and a correction of no one; this is an observation," he said.
"Before the word of God was open, there was a platform. It was a high place. On it was a pole, an Asherah. The same thing that's used in a strip club for women who have the Jezebel spirit to seduce men. In front of that was a man who ripped his shirt off, like a woman does in front of a pole at a strip club," he continued.
In his statement, Magala, a Moldovan immigrant, argued that Driscoll was unfairly judging him for his past.
"After my performance at James River Church conference a 53 year old Pastor was judging a 21 year old me. Well, to put it in a perspective I wanted to offer Pastor @markdriscoll to move into a country on another side of the planet, like China, or Russia that he never been before, that he has almost zero knowledge of the language, zero friends, zero family, and $60 in his pocket. And see how he is gonna make it," he argued.
"Believe me I tried. I couldn't find any job. So I spent $35 (out of $60) on the sword and was performing on streets Hollywood blvd. The rest of money I spent on milk and oatmeal. In my first performance I got a tip of $4.50. And I would've continued, but the injuries from Sword Swallowing wouldn't allow me to perform often … I just ran out of oatmeal … Also I wanted to add. Everyone finds God in his own time."
Magala stated on Instagram Wednesday that he had no plans to apologize for his performance.
Dan Meyer, a fellow professional sword swallower and member of Driscoll's church in Arizona, praised Magala for "giving God the glory."
"Wow! Great performance, Alex! It still blows my mind how long you can keep a sword down for so long," he wrote. "I can only last about :30-:45 seconds before I have to remove it. Great job, brother! The audience LOVED it… well, MOST of them! Keep giving God the glory!"
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