Bishop T.D. Jakes has taken further steps to end misinformation linking him to the scandal hanging over Sean Diddy Combs.
Legal representatives of the preacher have reportedly filed a motion in the Northern District of California aiming to order Google (YouTube’s parent company) to identify the person or persons behind YouTube accounts posting alleged misinformation about him.
The accounts are reportedly located in South Africa, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Kenya. Lawyers for the bishop say the accounts released false information regarding T.D. Jakes using AI-generated content.
Since the arrest of Diddy, many Black public figures, including T.D. Jakes, became the subject of social media investigation. Some AI-generated content has reportedly targeted people like Jakes, Steve Harvey, and Denzel Washington.
Early this month, T.D. Jakes broke his silence on allegations linking him to Sean Diddy Combs. In a statement issued on his behalf, the alleged claims were said to be “unequivocally false and baseless”.
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The alleged rumor about Jakes started on Monday, December 18, when a video appeared on social media suggesting that the preacher had attended several Diddy-hosted events, dated people of the same gender, and engaged in improper sexual behavior with a minor.
Despite requiring verification that the video content was accurate, several social media influencers shared it.
The popular preacher became a trending topic on multiple social media platforms within minutes after the video went viral, with one TikTok account that also posted it reaching nearly 2 million views.
Last month, Bishop T.D. Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit against Duane Youngblood, a Pennsylvania-based pastor who accused him of sexual assault.
Appearing on the Larry Reid Live podcast, Youngblood claimed the assault happened when he was 18 or 19 years old. However, a representative for T.D. Jakes said Youngblood fabricated the story for financial gain.
The defamation, according to sources, was filed in a Pennsylvania federal court. Bishop T.D. Jakes subsequently had a medical emergency while delivering a sermon at The Potter’s House Church in Dallas.
A representative for the 67-year-old pastor suggested that the stress from the lawsuit may have played a role in the medical emergency. Jakes’ team added that the defamation suit was intended to deal with the falsehood and to end the emotional, physical, and spiritual toll the Defendants’ conduct had caused Bishop Jakes.
