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By Mandy Taheri
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Bishop T.D. Jakes experienced a "slight health incident" during a Sunday sermon in Dallas on Sunday, his church wrote in a statement.
The well-known bishop, who boasts over 4.5 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, posted a statement from The Potter's House megachurch where he preaches at, reading: "During today's service, Bishop T.D. Jakes experienced a slight health incident and received immediate medical attention following his powerful hour-long message."
The statement added that "Jakes is stable and under the care of medical professionals. The entire Potter's House family is grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support from the community. Thank you for your understanding and continued prayers."
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A spokesperson for the church on Sunday afternoon sent Newsweek the official statement and provided no additional comment.
Unverified videos of Jakes' sermon online show the pastor unable to rise from his chair, potentially losing consciousness, with his body jolting. People rushed to his side before the livestream video cut off, and the audience can hear a prayer being said for Jakes. Newsweek has not been able to access the livestream as of Sunday afternoon.
Jakes' daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Touré Roberts, posted a video statement later Sunday night, thanking people for their prayers and updating followers about the bishop's condition.
"Today could have been a tragic day, but it wasn't by the mercy of God, by the grace of God," Touré Roberts said in a post on Jakes' X, formerly Twitter, account. "Bishop is doing well, recovering well. He's under medical care. We're trying to get him to sit down ... he's the strong bishop that we know."
Jakes Roberts said that her father was "already beginning to improve."
The Potter's House, which Jakes founded in 1996, is a non-denominational, multicultural church, that, according to its website, has more than 30,000 members. Given that the church livestreams sermons, it is likely many members join from afar.
The church primarily operates out of Dallas, however, "accelerated growth and shifting demographics have necessitated expansion to additional sites in North Dallas (Frisco, Texas,) Fort Worth, Texas and Denver."
Jakes is also an author of several books and is the owner and CEO of T.D. Jakes Enterprises. On November 21, T.D. Jakes Enterprises acquired an e-commerce technology start up, Castiron, which, according to the press release, will allow the company to launch "Nourysh."
"We know all too well that building your own business is difficult. To help simplify this for many small and underrepresented entrepreneurs across the country, we have created an all-in-one e-commerce platform to help small businesses across the country scale up and create the access needed to their products, further helping nourish the dreams of entrepreneurship," Jakes said earlier this week in a press release about the acquisition.
Meanwhile, Jakes is also among the names in a court filing in connection with music producer Rodney Jones' $30 million lawsuit against music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.
Jones filed his lawsuit on February 26, making a number of accusations against Combs, including sexual misconduct and grooming. Jones has also accused Combs of participating in sex-trafficking activity. Attorneys for Combs have strongly denied the allegations, previously telling Newsweek, "We have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies."
Jakes, is not accused of anything in the lawsuit. According to the court documents, Jones alleges that Combs "planned to leverage his relationship with Bishop T.D. Jakes to soften the impact on his public image of Cassie Ventura's lawsuit."
Update: 11/25/24, 10:23 a.m.: This article has been updated with a statement from Jakes' daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Touré Roberts.
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