Jim Bakker, a televangelist, was alleged with multiple problems of sexual harassment, fraud, and many more controversies. The former American still fights and continues to suffer from his past controversies. However, he was accused of being gay in 1987. Let's know what happened and if he was actually gay.
Jim Bakker is an American televangelist who previously worked as a minister for the Assemblies of God, the country's ninth-largest Christian church at that time.
In the 1960s and 1970s, he co-hosted various TV series with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker, including The 700 Club and Praise the Lord Club. Bakker is also recognized for creating the Christian theme park, Heritage USA.
Jim Bakker, who is speculated to be gay, is also the author of a number of publications, including Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead. The couple's popularity declined after Jim Bakker was discovered having an affair with his church secretary, which led to the discovery of countless other affairs. He was also found guilty of fraud and conspiracy years later.
Some of Jim Bakker's fellow preachers, such as Jerry Falwell and Jimmy Swaggart, have harshly criticized him, calling him a liar, embezzler, sexually deviant, and cancer on the face of Christianity.
Previously, we touched on the gay rumors of Leo Suter and Luke MacFarlane.
Was Jim Bakker Gay?
PTL's (The PTL Club, also known as The Jim and Tammy Show) former director of creative television, Jay Babcock, said in 1987 that he informed a grand jury meeting in Charlotte that he had sex with Jim Bakker. He was the first to publicly admit to having a gay affair with Bakker in front of a grand jury.
Bakker, meanwhile, strongly denied he ever had a gay relationship with anyone, according to United Press International. Bakker denied having ever been in a gay relationship under oath. He said,
I'll tell you before God I've never had homosexual sex with anyone and certainly not with Jay Babcock.
Babcock later reported that he certainly had sex with Jim but denied talking about the circumstances in the press conference. Jim Bakker had many sexual allegations before Babcock's blame, however, many more rumors came out of Bakker previously being involved in a gay affair.
Gary Smith, PTL's former general manager, was the object of one of Bakker's alleged homosexual attempts, according to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who informed in May 1987.
In the same interview, Falwell, leader of the ministry after Bakkers resigned, claimed that the Bakkers were no longer fit to lead PTL, accusing Jim Bakker of being secretly gay and claiming that Tammy Faye Bakker made a long list of demands in order for them to give up plans to return to PTL, including large annual salaries, two cars, a maid for a year, and a furnished house on a lake, among other things.
In the end, there was no sufficient evidence to declare if Jim Bakker was gay. Considering the fact that he is involved in two marriages with a woman and is currently living happily married, he seems to be straight as of now. However, there were sufficient controversies that hinted he might have been bisexual in the '80s.
With Her Role as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Jessica Chastain is aiming for an Oscar!
Jessica Chastain is up for The Best Actress at the 94th Academy Awards, with her transforming performance as Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye being recognized.
Tammy Faye was a celebrity on the Christian television network PTL, which her husband Jim Bakker helped launch. Tammy Faye died in 2007, however, her contribution to the LGBTQ field is still remembered.
Tammy Faye defied the network's homophobic tendencies by interviewing AIDS activist and pastor Steve Pieters via satellite on her broadcast in 1985, a critical and memorable point in the televangelist's career before public scandal overshadowed her.
Chastain took Pieters to the Oscar nominees luncheon in Los Angeles on Monday. Randy Havens plays Pieters in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and the memorable moment is replayed.
Tammy Faye wanted to be the first televangelist to interview a gay guy with AIDS, according to Pieters, who told PEOPLE in September that she wanted to be the first televangelist to interview a gay man suffering from AIDS.
The Bakkers offered to fly Pieters from California to their North Carolina studio, but Pieters was concerned that the PTL crew would not be welcome to an AIDS sufferer. Pieters said,
Tammy and Jim would have been quite hospitable to me. But they were afraid —from what I've heard — that the crew would not be comfortable with my being there and that I might not be treated well by the staff. So they decided to do it by satellite.
The movie as a whole is a sinfully uneven biography, however, Chastain's performance stands out in a sea of excellent performances.
She has very positive feelings for her performance and hopes to win the award. Well, we shall know every winner in every category in the 94th Academy Awards which is going to be held on March 28, 2022.
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