Joy Ashford | (TNS) The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — Some social media videos spreading “false and unfounded rumors” about Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes in recent months were at least partially created using artificial intelligence, according to a report last week from the fact-checking website Snopes.

Several of the videos posted and shared by TikTok and YouTube users said Jakes resigned from The Potter’s House after being mentioned in a lawsuit against producer Sean “Diddy” Combs. In reality, Jakes remains senior pastor of the church and preached at its most recent Sunday service.

One YouTube video from April has been viewed more than 845,000 times. It uses a thumbnail falsely suggesting a news anchor broadcast the development around Jakes’ resignation during a TV segment, Snopes reported. Snopes also concluded that the video’s script, editing and narration appear to have been done by AI tools.

Another YouTube video from the same month uses a thumbnail image that appears to be AI-generated and shows Jakes and Combs holding hands while shirtless, Snopes reported. Combs’ hand and wrist in the image appear severely distorted, a telltale sign of AI.

Jordan Hora, director of communications for The Potter’s House, declined to comment on the Snopes report and referred instead to past statements on unsubstantiated rumors involving Jakes.

In response to a rumor that Jakes participated in “sex parties” hosted by Combs, Hora told The Christian Post in December that “recent claims circulating on pockets of social media about Bishop T.D. Jakes are unequivocally false and baseless.”

In February 2024, Jakes was mentioned once in a 73-page lawsuit against Combs but was not named as a defendant. The suit says Combs “planned to leverage his relationship with Bishop T.D. Jakes to soften the impact on his public image” in the wake of a lawsuit filed by Cassie Ventura accusing Combs of sexual and physical abuse.

Combs’ Los Angeles and Miami homes were raided by federal agents in March as part of a sex-trafficking investigation. He is the subject of several lawsuits that have accused him of sexual assault and sex trafficking.

In Sunday’s service at The Potter’s House, Jakes appeared to respond to a surveillance video published by CNN last week that showed Combs assaulting Ventura at a hotel in 2016.

“When I saw the images that have been floating all over the news all week, it became difficult to watch — the atrocious, degrading, demeaning debauchery,” he said.

“I know who it was, but I saw my daughters. As a man, I saw my daughters, and it made me angry.”

At a Christmas Eve service last year at The Potter’s House, Jakes appeared to respond to the rumor about him participating in “sex parties” hosted by Combs.

“I’m not going to let the rain stop me. I’m not going to let the weather stop me. And I’m sure not going to let the liars stop me,” Jakes said.

“The worst that could happen, if everything was true, all I got to do is repent sincerely, from my heart. There’s enough power in the blood to cover all kinds of sin. I don’t care what it is, the blood would fix it. But I ain’t got to repent about this.”

In November 2022, Jakes attended Combs’ 53rd birthday party, a representative for Jakes confirmed to The Christian Post, and video of him at the party was circulated on social media.

Derrick Williams, executive vice president of entertainment at T.D. Jakes Enterprises, told The Christian Post in December 2023 that he attended Combs’ birthday party with Jakes. “We both greeted the family, Bishop Jakes recorded a brief celebratory birthday video and left immediately to take our other scheduled meetings. Any accusation to the contrary is wholly unsubstantiated, unverified, and false.”

In 2021, Jakes partnered with Revolt Media, a cable TV network co-founded by Combs, for a sermon series called “Kingdom Culture with T.D. Jakes.” Combs stepped down as chair of Revolt Media in November 2023 and reportedly sold his stake in the company in March.

Jakes founded The Potter’s House in 1996 and it now has 30,000 members, according to its website. In addition to the Dallas location, it has campuses in Frisco, Fort Worth and Los Angeles.

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