Influential Christian television network Daystar is losing a number of its major stars after months of ongoing scandal. The controversy involves an alleged abuse cover-up, spiritual abuse, and financial misconduct. Six program hosts, including evangelical superstars Jack Graham, Jesse Duplantis, Lance Wallnau, and Hank and Brenda Kunneman, have cut ties with the network.
Last November, allegations surfaced that the president of the network, Joni Lamb, had covered up abuse. Her son, Jonathan Lamb, and his wife allege she covered up abuse against their 5-year-old daughter. Joni has denied these allegations. Daystar confirmed that Graham, Duplantis, Wallnau, and the Kunnemans had left the network. While this is a small percentage of their 100 presenters, these are many of the most well-known names.
“Our information indicates these non-renewals were made for reasons totally unrelated to Daystar,” an email to the press said. “Most of them have confirmed this publicly. And some of these programmers have indicated to us they hope to come back in 2026. Allegations that the 4 programmers leftover controversy are false.” They reiterated that Joni Lamb denies all allegations.
“Daystar does not support these false allegations and is deeply saddened by Jonathan’s refusal to participate in and work toward peaceful reconciliation and relational restoration, for which Daystar and other Lamb family members had hoped,” said the network. However, one host, Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson ended her contract due to the “ethical deficits” of senior executives.
Daystar was founded in the 1990s. The Texas-based network aims to spread the Gospel “24 hours a day, seven days a week.” It is one of the most influential voices in Christian TV. The website reaches over 6.85 billion viewers worldwide. Daystar reported that it added 140 million homes to its worldwide coverage in 2024 and saw “a 60% increase in salvations” last year.
Jonathan Lamb alleges that in 2021 he found a male family member abusing his daughter. He and his wife say that Joni and Marcus Lamb defended the accused family member as innocent. The family member, who has not been named, denies the accusations. Jonathan says his mother urged them not to report the incident to the police.
Eventually, the couple did anyway and an investigation by Colleyville Police is ongoing. Daystar says that an internal investigation cleared the alleged perpetrator of wrongdoing. After Marcus died, his wife was named as his successor. Jonathan thinks this was retaliation for accusing a family member of abuse. Jonathan told reporters that he was demoted from vice president to a manager position after refusing to sign a nondisclosure agreement.
Both Joni Lamb and Daystar continue to deny all of the accusations. They stated that the decision to fire her son came from a 15-month performance review. She said her son was fabricating a smear campaign” and blackmailing her. In another statement, she addressed the “misinformation” about the network circulating online.
“He was not putting any effort into keeping his job,” Steve Wilhite, senior vice president of affiliate relations at Daystar, said in the video. Wilhite also called the Canadian author Tyler Thompson, who left the network over perceived ethical shortcomings, a “clickbait cockroach” who has “chosen to amplify this controversy as an opportunity to revitalize her struggling YouTube channel.”