Jim Bakker, the televangelist who built a massive Christian broadcasting empire with his first wife Tammy Faye before losing it amid scandal and a federal fraud conviction, has died. He was 86.
Bakker died October 5, his wife Lori Bakker announced. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed. In his final days, reports said he was under a doctor’s immediate care and receiving hospice care near Branson, Missouri, where he had rebuilt a television ministry later in life.
Bakker became one of television’s most famous evangelists
Bakker rose to national prominence with Tammy Faye through The PTL Club, helping pioneer a style of religious television that combined preaching, entertainment, fundraising and celebrity culture.
At its height, the ministry drew millions of viewers and expanded far beyond a television studio. The couple developed Heritage USA, a sprawling Christian resort and theme park in South Carolina that became one of the most visible symbols of their success.
The empire generated enormous sums through donations and religious partnerships, turning Jim and Tammy Faye into two of the best-known figures in American televangelism during the 1970s and 1980s.
Scandal and fraud conviction brought the empire down
Bakker’s career collapsed in 1987 amid revelations involving a sexual encounter with church secretary Jessica Hahn and scrutiny of ministry finances. Federal prosecutors later pursued fraud charges connected to fundraising for Heritage USA.
He was convicted in 1989 on 24 counts of fraud and initially received a 45-year prison sentence, which was later reduced. Bakker ultimately served about five years before his release in 1994.
Tammy Faye divorced him while he was incarcerated. She later rebuilt her own public image before her death in 2007.
Bakker returned to television after prison
After his release, Bakker gradually returned to religious broadcasting. He married Lori Beth Graham in 1998, and the couple later launched The Jim Bakker Show from the Branson area in 2003.
His later ministry focused heavily on prophecy, preparedness and apocalyptic themes. It also brought new controversy. In 2021, Bakker and his church reached a settlement after legal action over claims made while marketing a product during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bakker suffered a stroke in 2020, and his public appearances became less frequent in his later years.
His death closes a complicated chapter in religious television
Lori Bakker remembered her husband as a pioneer of Christian television and as the person she shared decades of life and ministry with. Bakker is survived by Lori, children and grandchildren.
His legacy remains deeply divided. To supporters, he was an influential broadcaster who returned to ministry after prison. To critics, his career became a defining example of the dangers surrounding celebrity televangelism, aggressive fundraising and blurred lines between faith and commerce.
Either way, Bakker’s rise, fall and eventual return to television made him one of the most consequential—and controversial—religious media figures of his era.