Bishop T.D. Jakes has filed a defamation lawsuit against fellow pastor Duane Youngblood who claims Jakes tried to sexually assault him when he was 18 or 19 years old.
According to the New York Post, Youngblood made explosive claims against the 67-year-old beloved speaker on an episode of the Larry Reid Live podcast back in October.
He alleges Jakes tried to groom him and also hugged and “tried to kiss” him. The New York Post also reported that Youngblood and his attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who represented Lil Rod in his lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs, demanded $6 million from Jakes “in order to resolve this matter quickly and privately,” according to a Nov. 15 legal filing.
He stated that if Jakes didn’t cough up the cash, he’d sue him for sexual assault and harassment, leading the Bishop to file a defamation suit against Youngblood in Pennsylvania federal court.
Jakes’ attorneys alluded to the fact that the stress surrounding the lawsuit might have contributed to his medical emergency this past Sunday in their filing:
“This lawsuit is intended to bring that scheme to a halt,” Jakes team stated, “to end the extreme emotional, physical, and spiritual toll Defendants’ conduct has caused Bishop Jakes, to set the record straight so the world understands the patent falsity of the accusations, and to restore Bishop Jakes’s reputation 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,” the filing continues. “But that is not the case here. Youngblood has used and abused the might of social media and the legal process to … make knowingly false accusations for his own personal and financial gain.”
In the filing, Jakes’ team also pointed out that Youngblood is a registered sex offender in the state of Pennsylvania and is currently on parole.
According to the New York Post, they have verified that Youngblood had previously pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting at least two teenage boys. He now claims to be reformed and even published a book, Freedom from Homosexuality: No Longer Living the Lie.
An attorney for Youngblood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bishop Jakes, born Thomas Dexter Jakes, founded The Potters House in 1996 growing it to now more than 30,000 members.