Thaddeus Augustus Matthews (April 1, 1957 – February 24, 2025), also known as "The Cussing Pastor", was an American pastor and broadcaster who gained popularity for using profanity in his

preaching A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. E ...

Career

Born April 1, 1957 in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, Matthews gained popularity in December 2017 after a

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livestream where he went on a vulgar rant on cursing in religion. In 2018, he was featured in an episode of '' Tosh.0''. An

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video of his, titled "I Don't Give a Shit Saturday", was sampled by

Madlib Otis Lee Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his eclectic, music sample, sample-heavy production style, he is rega ...

for the song "Situations" in his collaboration album with

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper and songwriter. He signed with Interscope Records in 2006 and recorded his debut album for the label; however, its release was cance ...

, ''Bandana''.

Controversy

In 2016, he was accused by a woman of harassing her, to which he responded by saying she was lying. That same year, he was arrested for harassment after he posted nude photos of himself to a blog. In 2019, Matthews received criticism after holding a

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contest at his church. That same year, he got into a screaming match with singer and television personality

K. Michelle Kimberly Michelle Pate (born March 4, 1982) is an American Country, Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, and television personality. She was a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series ''Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'' during its first two sea ...

. He also made homophobic remarks towards Davin Clemons, Memphis' first openly

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

councilmember. In 2022, Matthews turned himself into the

Memphis Police Department The Memphis Police Department is a law enforcement agency in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States. Organization The Memphis Police Department (MPD) provides police services to the people of the city of Memphis in a 288-square-mile area wi ...

for using social media for sexual harassment and violating a restraining order placed by his girlfriend.

Death

Matthews died from congestive heart failure on February 24, 2025, at the age of 67.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Thaddeus 1957 births 2025 deaths Radio personalities from Memphis, Tennessee American broadcasters Homileticists