Jim Bakker, who built a vast televangelism network before it collapsed in fraud convictions and scandal, died Monday at 86.
Televangelist Jim Bakker died Monday at age 86, according to a statement from his wife, Lori Bakker. A cause of death was not provided, though Bakker had suffered a stroke in 2020. Bakker and his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker, became prominent national figures through their daily television broadcasts and a Christian theme park before a sex scandal and federal fraud convictions brought down their empire.
The rise of PTL
Bakker was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, where he met Tammy Faye. The pair married in 1961, left college, and ran a traveling ministry across the country. In the 1960s, Bakker joined Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network, where he developed the children’s show ‘Come On Over’ and became the original host of ‘The 700 Club.’
Bakker left CBN in 1972 and formed the PTL Satellite Network two years later. Its core program, ‘The PTL Club,’ brought in millions of dollars each year and drew millions of viewers during the 1980s, reaching up to 13 million nightly viewers at its peak. The couple also built the Heritage USA theme park and hotel in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Scandals and prison
Bakker’s network began collapsing in March 1987 after he admitted to a sexual encounter with church clerk Jessica Hahn. Hahn said Bakker sexually assaulted her, while Bakker said the encounter was consensual. Bakker resigned and turned leadership of the organization over to Jerry Falwell.
In 1988, Bakker was indicted on mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges tied to PTL’s finances. He was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, a term later reduced to eight years. Tammy Faye divorced him in 1992 while he was still incarcerated, and she died of colon cancer in 2007. Fox News reported that Bakker was released on parole in 1995, while PBS NewsHour reported his parole release occurred in 1994.
Bakker married Lori in 1998, and in 2003 they launched ‘The Jim Bakker Show,’ filming near Branson, Missouri. In June 2021, Bakker and Morningside Church Productions Inc. settled a lawsuit over claims that a supplement named Silver Solution could cure COVID-19, agreeing to pay $156,000 in refunds to customers.
