Over the last couple of years, Kat Von D’s so-called “conversion” has been making waves, but let’s not get carried away in the tide of celebrity spectacle. Once the queen of the occult tattoo subculture, she now parades her newfound “Christianity” like a Hollywood costume change, complete with rehearsed emotional moments and a curated social media rollout.

Evangelicals, ever eager for a high-profile trophy of redemption, have rushed to embrace her, often without a shred of discernment. But as history has shown, not all that glitters is gospel gold.

Not long ago, Von D’s brand was built on darkness—tarot cards, witchcraft, and a defiant embrace of all things esoteric. Then, in a dramatic about-face, she declared her rejection of the occult, burned her mystical paraphernalia, and announced her baptism. The masses cheered, the headlines rolled in, and another chapter in the saga of celebrity “redemption” was written.

Yet, despite the dramatic symbolism, something is off.

Von D’s latest display of faith includes leading her son in the Lord’s Prayer before icons of Jesus and Mary, punctuated with reverent kisses to these images. Here’s a clip.

To the undiscerning, it’s a touching scene—a picture of maternal piety. But for those who take Scripture seriously, it’s a flashing neon warning sign. The Bible’s prohibition of graven images is neither ambiguous nor flexible. Yet, here she is, embracing a form of devotion that mirrors the very idolatry the Word of God condemns. It’s the equivalent of a newly sober alcoholic celebrating their sobriety with a well-aged bottle of whiskey on the shelf.

Yet, we’ve seen this story play out before. Kanye West’s so-called conversion had evangelicals swooning, only for him to sidestep sound biblical teaching and fall into the open arms of prosperity heretics like Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes.

Hank Hanegraaff, once known as “The Bible Answer Man,” departed the faith and abandoned the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone in favor of Eastern Orthodoxy’s sacramental system and icon veneration.

Now, Kat Von D is playing the same game—swapping one set of mystical trappings for another while evangelicals clamor to celebrate her as a prodigal returned.

The question is, where’s the fruit? Scripture is clear, good trees bear good fruit. Yet Von D’s conversion is an assortment of emotional sentiment, aesthetic tradition, and ritualistic practice, with little to no theological substance. And while it does seem as though she has genuinely abandoned the occult, there’s still no clear gospel proclamation, and no articulated understanding of salvation solely by God’s grace.

Instead, she has traded one brand of mysticism for another, dressing up a works-based, aesthetic-heavy spirituality as “faith.”

This is the age of faith as performance art—Christianity repackaged as an aesthetic choice, a new brand identity. And as evangelicals rush to applaud, one has to ask: Are we witnessing true repentance, or just another well-executed publicity pivot?

True conversion isn’t about a dramatic social media post or a visually compelling ritual—it’s about a transformed heart, evidenced by an unwavering stand on biblical truth. And until we see that, the standing ovation might be premature.