T.D Jakes, an influential meg-church pastor, has asked a California court to force Google to deal with misinformation about him posted on YouTube. This comes less than a month after a ‘health incident’ which his attorneys blamed on the stress of defamatory comments made on YouTube. On September 27th, Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit against another prominent preacher. Duane Youngblood made allegations of unwanted sexual advances on a YouTube talk show. Jake’s lawsuit alleges that Youngblood is currently on parole after felony convictions for corruption of minors and sexual assault.
Dustin Pusch, a lawyer representing Jakes, filed a motion in he Northern District of California Thursday to subpoena YouTube’s parent company, Google, to share the information that could help him identify accounts he believes have defamed him. He contends that compromising images were created with the help of AI. T.D. Jakes has been at the center of a series of unverified allegations of sexual abuse, many of which are connected to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. According to the fact-checking website Snopes, many of the damning videos were produced with AI tools and are falsified. However, Jakes has a number of posts linking him to Combs and he has never commented on the embattled wrapper’s high-profile arrest.
Duane Youngblood states that Jakes assaulted him as a teenager. He says that he met Bishop Jakes as a teenager. “When I started to walk past him, he pulled me to himself, wrapped his arms around me, and tried to kiss me,” describes Youngblood. He also claims that the Bishop offered him a three-point plan outlining a sexual relationship.
According to Minister Youngblood, Jakes told him “ ‘There’s three things I need you to do. The first one is, when I come to Pittsburgh you’re going to be the only person I sleep with. The second one is, you can’t sleep with anybody else because I don’t want to give my wife anything. And thirdly, I will take care of you the rest of your life.’”
In his lawsuit, Bishop T.D Jakes not only denies all accusations but states that Youngblood is attempting to extort him for over $6 million. In the lawsuit, Young’s lawyers write that “Youngblood’s intentional and malicious lies have taken a substantial emotional and physical toll on Bishop Jakes. On November 24—the day before he filed this action—Bishop Jakes suffered a medical crisis on stage in the middle of his Sunday service in front of his entire church.”
As we reported on November 25th, T.D. Jakes suffered a “slight health incident” during a service at The Potter’s House megachurch, in Dallas, Texas. A team member described the scare in like this “After yesterday’s service, after ministering for nearly an hour and a half, Bishop Jakes experienced a moment that brought him face-to-face with his own humanity. He is doing well and remains under medical supervision. Medical professionals have ruled out a stroke, but continue testing.”
Jakes seeks damages of $75,000 in his lawsuit as well as additional penalties to be determined as the lawsuit goes forward. The Bishop lamented the damage these accusations, which he characterizes as false, will have on other survivors of abuse. The suit reads ” Bishop Jakes believes with all his heart that actual victims of sexual abuse should be treated with the utmost respect, kindness, empathy, and sympathy—and that true perpetrators of such abuse should be held accountable for their actions. But that is not the case here.”
The Lawsuit alleges that “Youngblood’s lies have put in jeopardy the critical philanthropic missions Bishop Jakes spearheads and has likely impaired significantly the benefits that the recipients of such efforts receive. And Youngblood’s intentional and malicious lies have taken a substantial emotional and physical toll on Bishop Jakes.”