Controversial televangelist Jim Bakker died Monday at age 86, his second wife Lori Bakker announced in a post on Instagram and Facebook. No cause of death was disclosed; Bakker had suffered a stroke in 2020. His passing ends one of the most turbulent careers in American religious broadcasting.
Bakker and his first wife, Tammy Faye, built "The PTL Club" into a mid-1980s evangelical empire that drew as many as 13 million nightly viewers, alongside the Heritage USA theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The empire collapsed in 1987, when Bakker resigned from the ministry after paying hush money to a church secretary who alleged sexual assault. He was convicted of fraud in 1989 for bilking his followers and served four and a half years in prison.
After his 1994 parole, Bakker rebuilt his ministry with "The Jim Bakker Show," filmed near Branson, Missouri since 2003, and in later years became a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. He is survived by his wife Lori and his children.
