But Jermaine Jakes said that after he saw an ad about the then-pending second YouTube interview with Reid, he reached out to Duane Youngblood via text to warn him about Reid, whom Jakes’ son did not consider to be trustworthy.
“There was no reason for me to say anything that I intended or meant to be threatening,” Jermaine Jakes wrote in the document filed Friday. “Duane responded to my message practically immediately stating that he received the message and ‘it was noted.’”
Duane Youngblood, who described T.D. Jakes as a groomer, alleged that Jakes had offered to take care of the then-teenager financially “for life,” but Jakes and his team maintained that at the time of the alleged incident, the elder minister could not have afforded to make that offer. “During that period, I was barely keeping my own family out of poverty,” Jakes wrote. “I was not the ‘Bishop TD Jakes’ of today. I was a pastor with no substantial following, and no financial resources.”
The court filings include as exhibits two images that Jakes’ team said depict the location of his storefront church and house at the time and that the team says show he was a “small-town preacher.” Jakes said it was only an introduction to evangelist Carlton Pearson at a 1992 evangelical conference, followed the next year by his preaching a “Woman Thou Art Loosed” sermon, that led to his being known nationwide.
The filings also include a Nov. 15 letter in which Duane Youngblood’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, requested an “opening settlement demand of six million dollars” to resolve Youngblood’s claims against Jakes.
They also note that Duane Youngblood has created a website where Youngblood may be booked as a speaker, coach or to present webinars on overcoming trauma. Jakes also claims Youngblood has plans for a forthcoming book that is, as Jakes stated, a “‘tell-all’ about me.”
“I suspect a larger network is involved in this scheme, all anticipating a share of this attempted ‘money grab,’” Jakes, whose entrepreneurial pursuits include movie production and real estate development, wrote in the affidavit. “This entire smear campaign began shortly after the public announcement of a commitment from Wells Fargo of up to $1 billion for community redevelopment.”
Jakes’ representatives declined to respond to questions from RNS about the legal filings, citing it as “an ongoing legal matter,” but said he is continuing to recuperate from the medical incident.
“He remains on the path to recovery, strengthened by his faith, his purpose and the prayers of so many who continue to lift him up,” said Jordan Hora, executive director of PR and communications for the T.D. Jakes Group, T.D. Jakes Ministries and The Potter’s House. “With his doctors’ guidance, he was cleared to begin very slowly to minister during a recent Wednesday Night Bible School class on Feb. 12, and we are grateful for each step forward.”
RNS asked about Jakes’ diagnosis and prognosis after the medical incident and Hora responded: “We are focused on his continued healing and are not able to share additional details about his medical journey at this time.”
This article originally appeared here.
