Less than a month after suffering a "health incident," which his attorneys blamed in part on the stress of defamatory comments made on social media against him, megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes has asked a California court to force Google to help him deal with misinformation posted about him on YouTube.
Dustin Pusch, an attorney for Jakes who leads The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, filed a motion in the Northern District of California Thursday to subpoena YouTube's parent company, Google, to share the information that could help him identify the individuals behind four specific YouTube accounts, NBC News reported Thursday.
Pusch, a partner and co-founder of the high-powered law firm Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch, said the individuals behind the accounts are purportedly located in Pakistan, South Africa, the Philippines and Kenya.
Calls by The Christian Post to the firm seeking further comment about the motion Friday went unanswered, but Pusch cited false claims made by the accounts about Jakes, previously highlighted in a January 2024 NBC News report about AI-generated misinformation on YouTube.
Last month, attorneys for Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit against former-pastor-turned-registered sex offender Duane Youngblood, who alleged he was sexually assaulted by Jakes when he was a teenager some 40 years ago.
"The underlying story in this case depicts a carefully planned effort by a convicted criminal, and those acting in concert with him, to rewrite history in order to deflect blame and accountability for his own reprehensible and criminal conduct and to publicly smear a renowned and eminently respected religious leader in a blatant and explicit attempt to extort him for millions of dollars," lawyers for Jakes wrote.
The 20-page lawsuit was filed in the Western District Court in Pennsylvania, detailing Youngblood's history of abusing minors since at least 2002.
Jakes, 67, filed the lawsuit against the 58-year-old Youngblood, who claimed in interviews with internet personality Larry Reid on his "Larry Reid Live" show on Oct. 28 and Nov. 3 that Jakes assaulted him when he was about 18 or 19 years old.
Youngblood claimed to Reid that he had been talking with Jakes for about two hours at the home of an older adult clergywoman, where he was staying during a local church revival approximately 40 years ago when Jakes tried to kiss him.
The morning after the encounter, Youngblood alleges Jakes called his home and intimated that he wanted him to become a local sex partner.
"My mother answers the phone, and she says to me, 'Duane, it's Elder Jakes.' Jakes and I get on that phone and when I get on that telephone, I can hear water. He is sitting in a bathtub, and in that thing, he says to me, without any hesitation, 'there's three things I need you to do. The first one is, when I come to Pittsburgh, you're going to be the only person I sleep with. The second one is you can't sleep with anybody else because I don't want to give my wife anything. And thirdly, I will take care of you the rest of your life," Youngblood claimed during his interview with Reid.
Days after making those allegations public, Jakes' attorneys said an attorney representing Youngblood sent a demand letter to him on Nov. 24 demanding $6 million "to 'resolve this matter quickly and privately;' otherwise, Youngblood would bring a lawsuit against Bishop Jakes for sexual assault and harassment."
Jakes' lawyers said Youngblood's allegation caused the megachurch pastor millions of dollars in reputational harm and contributed to his health incident at his church on Nov. 24.
"Youngblood's lies have put in jeopardy the critical philanthropic missions Bishop Jakes spearheads and has likely impaired significantly the benefits that the recipients of such efforts receive. And Youngblood's intentional and malicious lies have taken a substantial emotional and physical toll on Bishop Jakes," the lawsuit alleges. "On November 24 — the day before he filed this action — Bishop Jakes suffered a medical crisis on stage in the middle of his Sunday service in front of his entire church."
Jakes' reputation has become the subject of viral online commentary since an unverified report that became a trending topic on social media in December 2023 accused him of being a participant at sex parties hosted by Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, and other sexual misconduct.
The claims emerged in the wake of a recently-settled lawsuit in which R&B singer Cassie accused Combs of rape, as well as repeated physical abuse over nearly a decade.
