Jim Bakker Dead: Scandal-Hit Preacher and Televangelist Dies Aged 86
Controversial preacher and televangelist Jim Baker has passed away aged 86.
Oct. 6 2026, Published 7:27 a.m. ET
Scandal-hit preacher and televangelist Jim Bakker has died aged 86.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Bakker's death was confirmed by his wife Lori following his passing on Monday.
'He Was A Pioneer Of Christian Television'
Bakker's wife Lori paid tribute to husband while announcing his death.
She wrote: "It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening."
Lori said Bakker's final moments were filled with faith after he devoted 66 years of his life to preaching the gospel.
"He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend and the man I was honoured to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry," she added.
His cause of death was not immediately clear.
Bakker was best known for hosting The PTL Club, short for The Praise the Lord Club, a popular Christian television show that aired from the 1970s through the late 1980s, as well as developing Heritage USA, the now-defunct Christian theme park.
Resigned Over Scandal
Bakker was accused of sexually assaulting church secretary, Jessica Hahn.
He launched the show with his ex-wife, Tammy Faye Messner, reaching as many as 13 million views daily while generating an annual revenue of as much as $129 million, before the empire came crashing down.
Bakker handed in his resignation to the ministry in 1987 after allegedly paying $265,000 in hush money to a church secretary, Jessica Hahn, who said she had been sexually assaulted by Bakker while she was 21 years old.
Hahn claimed that in 1980 she met the married televangelist in a hotel room in Clearwater Beach under the guise that she would be watching his show after she was invited by a colleague.
Jailed For Fraud In 1988
Bakker hosted 'The Jim Bakker Show' with wife Lori.
However, in 2017 she told the Charlotte Observer they had sex and that she was made to keep quiet: "It was 'Just keep your mouth shut, Jess, because this is a church.'"
In 1988, Bakker was indicted for mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy after an investigation of PTL's finances.
He was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, though the sentence was later reduced to eight years.
At a news conference after Bakker was found guilty, Tammy Faye stood in front of the microphones and sang the hymn, On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand.
Their marriage later crumbled and Tammy Faye divorced Bakker in 1992, just short of their 31st anniversary, while he was still in prison.
She later married Roe Messner, a building contractor whose projects included the Heritage USA theme park. Messner was convicted of bankruptcy fraud in 1995 and spent about two years in prison.
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Bakker adopted five children with second wife Lori.
Tammy Faye died of colon cancer in 2007.
Bakker was released on parole in 1994. He married his second wife, Lori, in 1998. The couple launched The Jim Bakker Show on the PTL Satellite Network five years later.
In June 2021, Bakker and his Morningside Church Productions Inc. settled a lawsuit accusing him of falsely claiming the health supplement Silver Solution could cure COVID-19. The settlement called for $156,000 US in refunds to people who paid money or gave contributions to obtain the product in the early days of the pandemic.
The lawsuit said Bakker and a guest made the cure claim during 11 episodes in February and March of 2020.
Bakker and Tammy Faye had two children. He and his second wife adopted five children in 2002.
