That is one thing you can say about televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, 90, who died after a recent bout of ill health. This death was not unexpected, since his son, Donnie, had announced he had been in critical condition for the past couple of weeks.
Swaggart was a highly successful televangelist, a cousin of entertainers Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley, but in the end, greed and hypocrisy were his undoing. He was in the forefront of the successful attempt by him, Jerry Falwell, and others to topple Jim Bakker and his PTL Network back in 1987. Swaggart was mad at Bakker because Bakker took him off the network thanks to Swaggart's anti-Catholic rants. Bakker's network was widely televised in Catholic-dominated countries and felt Swaggart was bad for business. It wouldn't be too long before Bakker himself was not just forced out of PTL, but he had criminal charges lodged against him and ultimately prison for a few years.
I am sure Bakker has few kind words to say about Swaggart upon the latter's death.
But, as you know or should know, Swaggart himself all but ruined his career thanks to his own peccadillos. A rival televangelist by the name of Marvin Gorman was the victim of Swaggart's accusations of adultery, but Gorman retaliated by obtaining pictures of Swaggart with prostitute Debra Murphree at an Airline Motel room in Metarie, Louisiana. Swaggart was busted. It was an epic downfall from which Swaggart never recovered. Murphree did a layout of sorts for Penthouse following the scandal and an interview with the magazine. As I recall, she said Swaggart was a pretty "easy" john, just a "couple of pumps" and that was it. I read that article years ago and may still have that issue.
His downfall was so epic, he went on television with a tearful apology because he got caught:
Debra Murphree gave an interview some time after the scandal broke:
Gorman wasn't finished with Swaggart there. He filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against him, but it was ultimately settled for $1.85 million.
It was downhill for Jimmy Swaggart. His wife, Frances, and son, Donnie, stood by him despite or because of him publicly humiliating the family, but he was defrocked from the Assemblies of God. He was involved in a second prostitute scandal a couple of years after the Murphree incident. He did continue his ministry on a much smaller scale. Donnie and Donnie's son have continued the Swaggart ministry.
Snip from article:
Jimmy Lee Swaggart was born March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, to W.L. and Minnie Bell Swaggart.
The family was blessed with showmanship and musical talent, exemplified by Swaggart's TV acumen and the singing ability of his famed cousins Jerry Lee Lewis and Mickey Gilley.
The pastor was comfortable spreading his Pentecostal message at a typewriter, behind a radio microphone and eventually in front of a TV camera.
But with his microphone always metaphorically on, Swaggart was often caught making deeply divisive statements.
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