Jim Bakker, Famed Televangelist and Ex-Husband of Tammy Faye Bakker, Dies at 86

Charna FlamTue, October 6, 2026 at 3:43 AM UTC

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Jim BakkerCredit: The Jim Bakker Show/Youtube -

Jim Bakker died on Monday, Oct. 5, his wife Lori Bakker announced

The former husband of Tammy Faye Bakker was 86

He became widely known for his mail and wire fraud conviction in 1989 in connection with the religious broadcasting empire he and his first wife founded

Famed televangelist Jim Bakker, former husband of Tammy Faye Bakker, died on Monday, Oct. 5. He was 86.

The Instagram account for Jim’s show, The Jim Bakker Show, announced his death on behalf of his widow, Lori Bakker. His cause of death was not revealed.

“It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening,” the post read. “For 66 years, Jim gave his life to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a pioneer of Christian television, but to me, he was my husband, my best friend, and the man I was honored to walk beside through so many seasons of life and ministry.”

The statement continued, “Jim loved people deeply. He loved this ministry, and he loved the friends and partners who stood with him throughout the years. Even in his final days, his heart was still for the work of God and for the Gospel to continue reaching the world.”

“Our family is grieving and we ask for your prayers and privacy during this time,” the post concluded. “Jim finished his race with faith. His voice, his vision, and his legacy will never be forgotten.”

Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in August 1987.Credit: Will & Deni McIntyre/Getty

The televangelist and his first wife, Tammy Faye, founded the Christian television program, The PTL Club (short for Praise The Lord), in 1974. The Christian news program was initially hosted in an abandoned Charlotte, North Carolina, furniture store. PTL grew for various reasons, including the couple’s embrace of the prosperity gospel, which supported the idea that ministers and pastors could have abundant wealth. Their fame afforded them a religious broadcasting empire and a theme park, Heritage USA, in South Carolina.

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However, their multi-million-dollar empire ended when it was found that Jim used funds raised through his ministry for his own benefit. He was selling tens of thousands of $1,000 “lifetime memberships” to a luxury hotel, even though only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. In that case, investigators found that most of the funds went to Bakker’s company’s operating expenses, though he kept $3.4 million, the New York Times reported.

Jim BakkerCredit: getty

Jim was also accused of using $279,000 of ministry funds to pay church secretary Jessica Hahn to keep quiet. Hahn said that Jim and PTL Club co-host John Wesley Fletcher had drugged and raped her. Jim argued the encounter was consensual.

On Oct. 4, 1988, Jim was indicted on 24 federal counts of mail and wire fraud and conspiring to defraud the public — a case that exploded in the press when the Hahn allegations came to light.

Following a five-week trial in 1989, he was found guilty on all 24 counts. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison. He ultimately served five.

Jim Bakker and wife Lori Bakker on October 20, 2011 in Hollywood, California.Credit: Albert L. Ortega/Getty

Three years later, in 1992, and during his prison sentence, Tammy Faye divorced Jim. She later married Roe Messner that same year. After Jim was released, he remarried Lori Beth Graham in 1998, and he created The Jim Bakker Show in 2003.

Jim and Lori adopted five children. He and Tammy Faye shared a son, Jay Bakker, and a daughter, Tammy Sue Bakker-Chapman

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”