(RNS) The teenage star of “Two and a Half Men'' apologized Tuesday (Nov. 27) for calling his show unbiblical “filth'' and urging viwers not to watch it during a videotaped testimony about his conversion to Seventh-day Adventism.
Angus T. Jones on the red carpet at the 38th People’s Choice Awards on January 11, 2012, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The ‘Two and a Half Men’ actor — the ?half? in the sitcom?s title — says in a new online testimony that he?s become a Seventh-day Adventist and loathes the ?filth? produced by his raunchy show.
Angus T. Jones, who has starred in the salacious sitcom since he was 10, said he considers the cast and crew “an extension of my family.”
“I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed,” Jones said in a statement.
The 19-year-old is reportedly paid $350,000 per episode, but his view of the show, which features raunchy jokes and voluptuous vamps, apparently changed during his spiritual conversion.
“I’m not OK with what I’m learning, what the Bible says, and being on that television show,” Jones said in a 15-minute video posted Monday on YouTube. “Please stop watching it,” he added. “Please stop filling your head with filth.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church said that Jones joined a congregation in California’s San Fernando Valley in June and was recently baptized.
“We are happy that Angus has joined the Seventh-day Adventist family and has found a place in which he feels comfortable to worship and grow his faith,” George Johnson, communication director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, said in a statement.
Johnson added that the young actor's views of his show “are of a personal nature, reflecting his views after having undergone changes during his spiritual journey.”
Johnson also distanced his church from the controversial man, Christopher Hudson, who posted Jones’ testimony online. Hudson, who operates a video-based ministry called “Forerunner Chronicles,” is not an SDA minister, Johnson said.
Hudson told The Daily he is a Seventh-day Adventist, and that Jones is a “great role model.”
“If Angus were to continue on this show, to be half a man, people would think he was a cool guy, fine,” Hudson said. “If he takes a stand and says he wants to be pure and like Jesus Christ, then he’s lost his mind.”
In other “Forerunner Chronicle” videos, Hudson rails against President Obama and accuses the Vatican of plotting with “the Illuminati” to brainwash people through the 2009 movie “Angels and Demons.”
In 2011, actor Charlie Sheen, who played Jones' sleazy uncle, was fired from “Two and a Half Men” for “moral turpitude,” after cycling through drug rehab centers and lambasting the show’s producers.
Ratings dropped after Sheen’s departure, but the show still draws 14.5 million viewers and ranks third among network comedies. On Tuesday, Sheen called the show “cursed,” according to People magazine.
With one year left on his contract, Jones hinted at his spiritual crisis in an October interview with Christianity Today, which the magazine posted on its website on Tuesday.
“I know I am there for a reason, but at the same time I have this strange twist of being a hypocrite: a paid hypocrite,” he said. “Even though it's my job to be an actor, I have given my life to God.”
KRE/AMB END BURKE
