Jim Bakker (1940–2026) was an American televangelist known for cohosting The PTL Club (also called The Jim and Tammy Show) with his first wife, Tammy Faye Bakker. He began his career with Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in the 1960s before starting the PTL (“People That Love” or “Praise the Lord”) network in Charlotte, North Carolina. By the mid-1980s, he and Tammy Faye had built a $125 million empire but were often criticized for their luxurious lifestyle.
In 1987 it came out that Bakker had paid an ex-employee, Jessica Hahn, $279,000 of ministry money to remain quiet about a 1980 sexual encounter. In addition, it was alleged that the televangelist had had homosexual encounters with another employee. Bakker resigned that year, and he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 1989. He and Tammy Faye Bakker divorced in 1992.
Bakker was released on parole in 1994 after having served less than five years. In 1998 Bakker married Lori Graham, a Pentecostal minister. Five years later he returned to televangelism with The Jim Bakker Show, where he preached about the coming apocalypse.