Tyrone Blackburn, the attorney representing Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, the man accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs of operating a sex trafficking ring, has set his sights on another high-profile figure: Bishop T.D. Jakes.
In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Jakes accused Duane Youngblood, Blackburn’s client, of defamation and civil conspiracy.
Youngblood, a lifetime registered sex offender and two-time convicted felon, recently made allegations on the podcast Larry Reid Live, claiming Jakes had groomed and attempted to sexually abuse him when Youngblood was a young minister.
Jakes, however, has forcefully denied the allegations and is fighting back with a defamation lawsuit, calling the claims “patently false” and “malicious.”
Jakes’s lawsuit describes Youngblood’s statements as a “carefully planned effort by a convicted criminal, and those acting in concert with him, to rewrite history to deflect blame and accountability for his reprehensible and criminal conduct.
Jakes also accuses Youngblood of attempting to publicly smear a renowned and eminently respected religious leader in a blatant and explicit attempt to extort him for millions of dollars.”
Youngblood’s allegations were broadcast on two widely viewed podcast episodes on October 28 and November 3.
According to the complaint, the episodes were titled, “Larry Reid Live INTERVIEWS Duane Youngblood: ‘The Abused become The Abuser.'”
The lawsuit alleges Youngblood made statements claiming that “Bishop Jakes groomed, sexually assaulted, sexually abused, and preyed on” him.
“These accusations are patently false,” the lawsuit states. “Bishop Jakes never kissed or tried to kiss Youngblood, never cornered him or forced him into any situation (sexual or otherwise), and certainly never told him that he wanted to sleep with him or had any conversation of a sexual nature at all with him. The interactions described by Youngblood during his LRL interviews on October 28 and November 3 never happened—period.”
The lawsuit further claims that after the second podcast, Blackburn, acting on behalf of Youngblood, sent a letter to Jakes on November 15, demanding $6 million to “resolve this matter quickly and privately.” According to the complaint, this demand amounted to attempted extortion.
“Days after the second podcast, on information and belief, the Defendants retained a lawyer in New York to represent Youngblood in a blatant attempt at a ‘money grab,'” the filing alleges. “The motivation of the ‘demand’ was clear: pay millions of dollars; otherwise, the podcast strategy and other similar tactics of attempting to publicly harass and shame Bishop Jakes would continue.”
The lawsuit also details the toll the allegations have taken on Jakes.
It mentions that the pastor “suffered a medical crisis on stage in the middle of his Sunday service” on November 24 during a sermon at The Potter’s House church in Dallas, attributing this incident to the stress caused by Youngblood’s claims and the widespread attention they have received.
Jakes is seeking damages for defamation, emotional distress and punitive damages.
The lawsuit asserts that Youngblood’s claims were “accompanied with malice, wantonness, and a conscious desire to cause injury” and were made “heedlessly and with reckless and willful indifference” to the truth.