After more than a year of fending off rumors, T.D. Jakes said the misinformation that circulated about him is now “water under the bridge.” In a recent episode of the “Money and Wealth” podcast, the founder of The Potter’s House told John Hope Bryant that artificial intelligence and social media are largely to blame for assailing his reputation.
In spring 2024, Jakes was mentioned in a lawsuit against disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. In 2021, Jakes and Combs had teamed up to bring sermons to Combs’ cable TV network. Combs is now awaiting sentencing after a split verdict in his sex-trafficking lawsuit.
Earlier this year, Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit against Duane Youngblood, who accused the bishop of inappropriate sexual behavior. According to Jakes, Youngblood’s “extortion” attempt led to a health scare for the bishop.
Jakes, 68, recently passed the senior pastor roles at the interdenominational Potter’s House to daughter Sarah Jakes Roberts and her husband, Touré Roberts. On Bryant’s podcast, the bishop spoke about his own next steps, while offering life and business advice to Black communities.
TD Jakes: ‘44,000 Bots’ Were ‘Released on Me’
Jakes, who said he wants to focus on building communities—such as through his partnership with Wells Fargo—also answered Bryant’s questions about reputational attacks. About the rumor linking Jakes to Diddy’s “freak-off” sex parties, the bishop said, “It was 44,000 bots that were released on me.” According to Jakes, investigators found that “98%” of those bots were generated by artificial intelligence.
Saying the rumors were “kinda water under the bridge,” Jakes noted, “If there were anything there, the FBI would have been in it.” As with his recent health scare, the bishop added, “You would find it on the six-o’clock news.” With false rumors so prevalent and so destructive, Jakes told Bryant, “We have got to stop getting our information from TikTok.”
The “most painful part” of rumors is the toll they take on family members, Jakes explained.
“Surviving all of that is difficult and painful, but it goes with the territory,” he said. “You cannot become distracted by the naysayers and lose sight of the vision and the purpose of what you’re trying to build.”
While publicizing the podcast episode, Bryant wrote, “Let’s put an end to this toxic trend of Black people tearing down Black people. Too much clickbait, too much hate.”
