Hillsong founder Brian Houston has denied sharing a tweet on his X - formerly Twitter - account about "ladies and girls kissing".
The strange post appeared late on Tuesday night Australian Eastern Daylight Time, Relevant magazine reports, prompting speculation that it was really an internet search that had been posted to the wrong place by mistake.
It was deleted 16 minutes later but not before it had been seen by some X users who posted scathing responses.
Houston has since re-posted a statement from an X account called @yolandamariee23 that Houston said was his personal assistant.
The statement claimed that his account had been hacked and that X users should "disregard anything that seems out of the normal".
"Rest assured we are working on discovering how Ps. Brian was hacked," the statement said.
"Our team has ascertained that someone logged into his account from a location within the USA. We've changed his password so here's hoping they no longer have access.
"Please disregard anything that seems out of the normal. For your safety remember Pastor Brian does not contact anyone privately."
Houston resigned from Hillsong in 2022 after investigations into allegations of substance abuse and misconduct involving two women. He denied wrongdoing.
Last December, he and wife Bobbie announced plans to open a new church in 2024.
