Media365
3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Oct 6, 2026 05:15 PM IST
Jim Bakker Death News: Infamous televangelist Jim Bakker has died at the age of 80. While his second wife Lori Bakker didn’t disclose the cause, she confirmed he was no more.
“It is with a broken heart that I share that my beloved husband, Jim Bakker, went home to be with the Lord this evening. 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,” Lori said in a statement.
Jim Bakker was best known for building an evangelical empire around the popular television programme The PTL Club. However, his story took a dramatic turn as sex scandals and financial crimes cost him much of his reputation and wealth.
Jim Bakker and Lori Bakker lived near Branson, Missouri, where they filmed their TV show The Jim Bakker Show since its inception in 2003. But it was Bakker’s first wife Tammy Faye with whom he shot to fame. Their show fetched 13 million viewers everyday at its peak in the mid-1980s and amassed over $129 million yearly, as per AP. Their personal and professional collaborations began in college, when they began dating and dropped out to kick off their travelling ministry.
Bakker preached, and Faye sang and played the accordion as they visited churches and tent revivals across the US. Televangelist Pat Robertson roped them in to launch a children’s show in 1965 and The 700 Club, a Christian talk show, in 1966. After exiting the network in 1972, Bakker formed the PTL Satellite Network in 1974, with PTL standing for “Praise the Lord”.
Sex scandal and financial crimes galore
After enjoying popularity for around 13 years, Jim Bakker admitted to a sexual encounter in 1987 with church clerk Jessica Hahn. He even paid her $265,000 from ministry funds to keep her silent. He was consequently forced to resign from his empire, with pastor and broadcaster Jerry Falwell taking over. Tammy Faye continued to stand by Bakker despite the sex scandal and subsequent fall from grace.
The next year, Bakker was indicted for wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy linked to PTL’s finances. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison, but the jailtime was eventually reduced to eight years. Faye remained loyal to her husband even then, singing the hymn “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand” at a press conference after his conviction.
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Finally, a few years later in 1992, Tammy Faye divorced Jim Bakker ahead of their 31st wedding anniversary. He was still in prison at the time of the separation. They had two children. After being released on parole in 1994, Bakker married Lori Bakker four years later. The couple adopted five children in 2002. Bakker became a television preacher again in the early 2000s, and was a staunch supporter of US President Donald Trump.
