Bishop T.D. Jakes has come under scrutiny once again, this time for admitting during a conversation with Oprah Winfrey that he had gone to a birthday party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs — although the bishop says he only went for 30 minutes. Bishop Jakes made these comments after Diddy began his trial for sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
For context, media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Bishop T.D. Jakes spoke at length on June 17, 2025, during Jakes’s annual Good Soil Forum in Dallas, Texas, an event focused on providing minority business owners with resources that can help their companies grow. According to press accounts, Winfrey and Jakes both discussed their alleged connections to Sean “Diddy” Combs during the event.
Moreover, as reported by Fox’s Marissa Mitchell, both Jakes and Winfrey initially denied that they had ever attended the notorious parties hosted by Combs. Winfrey said, “First of all, I have never been near a puff party. And anybody who knows me knows if there is a party, I am the first one out…the nature of my personality is that I am not a party person.”
Continuing, Winfrey said that instead of attending parties, she prefers to “sit at home with my thoughts by the fire, with the dogs.” In addition, Winfrey said that AI-generated images of her and Diddy together in the nude were circulating online, and that she had tried and failed to get YouTube to take them down.
Furthermore, Jakes said that he had once gone to a Diddy party simply to give the rapper his best wishes, but had left after 30 minutes or less. In addition, the bishop said that he never partied with Diddy, but that people had spread rumors online, saying, “Not only do they not know it, but they help spread it…I am almost 70 years old, what do I look like?! I am a grandfather. What do I look like at this late day (sic) going? But that is the kind of world that we are living in.”
Importantly, the conversation between Jakes and Winfrey occurred just months after the bishop emphatically denied allegations of grooming and assault against him that were made by two brothers, which led Jakes to file a defamation lawsuit. In an exclusive interview with USA Today’s Scott Stump, Jakes said, “I filed the suit because if you don’t ever speak back, it just continues to go on and on and on, and I decided enough is enough.”
In addition, Jakes said that similar allegations have been levied against him “all year from different people in different places,” adding, “We’re living in a time of misinformation and disinformation that’s hard to live with.” He went on to say that he is unsure whether more accusers will come forward based on “last year and how many Black celebrities and celebrities in general have had to endure this kind of stuff.”
Featured image credit: Bishop T.D. Jakes via X