Joel Osteen Puts Adrienne Bailon BF On 'Indefinite Leave' Amid Cheating Scandal
March 24 2016, Updated 1:08 p.m. ET
Adrienne Bailon's new boyfriend, Israel Houghton, has been booted from his five-year position as a minister at Joel Osteen's Texas super-church amid cheating rumors, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Houghton, 44, worked as a minister at Lakewood Church as far back as 2011. But recently, RadarOnline.com reported, he was mysteriously wiped from the website. A rep for the church confirmed to RadarOnline.com that he is no longer part of the fold after announcing his divorce amid cheating rumors in February.
A rep for the church told RadarOnline.com that he is no longer part of the fold after announcing his divorce amid cheating rumors in February, although a rep for Houghton claims he has taken “a personal sabbatical of his choosing” and remains on staff.
The rep continued, "Lakewood Church is not at liberty to discuss publicly any details regarding Israel's personal situation, but stands ready to provide Israel with spiritual counseling and guidance should he choose to seek it."
As RadarOnline.com reported, Houghton was spotted on a steamy Mexican getaway with Bailon at the Dreams resort in Tulum over the weekend. He was still wearing a wedding band, although he announced in February he and his wife Meleasa were splitting after 20 years. He admitted at the time that he had "failed and sinned" against his wife.
A defiant Houghton insisted yesterday, however, that Bailon, 32, was not the other woman responsible for the breakdown of his marriage.
"In the midst of all that's going on in the world... Suffering, terrorism, deciding a future for our country, and making the world safer; It is sad that I am even having to address this matter," he wrote on Facebook.
"I met Adrienne Bailon a bit over 2 years ago," on the set of the movie I'm In Love with a Church Girl, he explained. "As two single adults we have very recently begun to explore a dating relationship."
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UPDATE:
A rep for Houghton told RadarOnline.com, "Israel has been on staff at Lakewood for 15 years, since 2001, and actually remains officially on staff. He was never suspended, nor was he put on an indefinite leave, but is on a personal sabbatical of his choosing."
