Numerous strong men have fallen from power throughout history due to their inability or reluctance to, well, “keep it in his pants.” Because of their sexual and even criminal escapades, Harvey Weinstein and Prince Andrew have seen their social standing decline just in the last few years. A sexual scandal from a previous age contributed to the impeachment of then-President Bill Clinton as one of a bigger set of problems.
One man’s reputation suffered a swift and severe decline in the late 1980s, at least in part because of a sex scandal. The story of televangelist Jim Bakker’s fall from grace has a lot more to it, but it all starts with sex, especially with a sexual assault allegation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in hush money payments to make it go away.
Jessica Hahn, who may have been the victim of sexual assault, has made a profession out of being “famous for being famous” for a very long time. For instance, she frequently appeared on shock-jock radio and posed for Playboy. A source claims that as of 2017, Hahn had retired into a quiet life of obscurity.
Jim Bakker was not the first televangelist; for many years, religious programming was broadcast on radio and, earlier, television. However, Bakker didn’t consider himself to be a typical televangelist in the mold of someone like Billy Graham or Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Instead, he saw himself as somewhat of a “Christian Johnny Carson.” He quickly established a television empire, with his “PTL” program—which he co-hosted with his late wife Tammy Faye Bakker—as its cornerstone.
The Bakker empire quickly expanded to include a water park in South Carolina that was marketed as a “Christian version of Disneyland.” The Bakkers themselves were residing in lavish residences and fancy vehicles. Then, probably as a result of a phone conversation, it all came tumbling down. Investigative writer Charles Shepard of the Charlotte Observer claimed, “I took this contact from someone who turned out to be Jessica Hahn telling us that something had happened between her and Jim Bakker.
According to Jessica Hahn, who spoke to the Charlotte Observer reporter, Jim Bakker allegedly abused her sexually in December 1980 while she was a 21-year-old church secretary. She said that Bakker had drugged her before raping her, specifically. Furthermore, Bakker is said to have given Hahn hush money.
The truth is that Hahn’s accusations were only the tip of a very big iceberg that also contained charges of financial mismanagement, drug misuse, and accounting fraud. Ultimately, Bakker, who would assert that the sex act with Hahn was consensual, would be found guilty on several criminal counts and given a 45-year jail sentence, according to Pop Culture. Later, that term was commuted, and as of July 2022, according to his website, Bakker is back in the televangelism business, but on a much smaller scale. He now hosts his ministry out of Branson, Missouri.
In the world of celebrities, there is a proverb that goes, “famous for being famous.” To put it another way, a person may become famous simply by being in the right place at the right moment (or, depending on your perspective, the wrong location at the wrong time), or by the sheer power of marketing. For instance, O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her companion Ronald Goldman were killed when couch-surfing actress Kato Kaelin was slumming at Simpson’s residence. Kaelin is still profiting from that celebrity even though it happened thirty years ago.
Except for being the center of a delicious and scandalous sex scandal, Jessica Hahn had no real claim to fame. She then used that as the foundation for a protracted career in which she extracted as much cash and notoriety as she could. She was famous for dating comedian Sam Kinison and even made an appearance in his “Wild Thing” video (available here, via YouTube). She continued to perform on “The Howard Stern Show” well into the 2000s, about 20 years after her fame should have started to fade, and she frequently posed for Playboy. She participated in TV series in a minor capacity and had two long-term romances, the second of which seems to still be going strong.
After cutting out Sam Kinison (whose relationship, according to The Cinemaholic, “did not endure long”), Jessica Hahn’s first committed relationship was with TV producer and “Married… With Children” creator Ron Leavitt. She spoke to CNN in 2005 on how Leavitt aided her career as an actor. “Jessica, come on, how about a cup of coffee, maybe some dinner,” he said on the final day of my shoot. “He was a complete gentleman and we have been together for 15 years and I have never been more in love in my life,” she recalled at the time. “He was the first man that took a chance with me on ‘Married With Children.’ Nobody would hire me for TV, not that they should.
When Leavitt passed away in 2008, Hahn’s connection with him came to an end; yet, The Los Angeles Times made a point of omitting Hahn entirely from his obituary. A channel reported that rumour from 2017 suggested that Hahn had wed Frank Lloyd. Lloyd was a stunt performer, and his most recent credit was from 2014, per a profile with the same name on IMDB.
The Charlotte Observer, the publication that first broke the story that brought down the Jim Bakker empire and cemented Hahn’s reputation as a cultural icon, revisited the tale of the lady who, thirty years previously, had set the whole thing in motion. Hahn said to a journalist that she didn’t think her decisions in the years after the Bakker controversy were the wisest ones. She claimed that as a result of her decisions, she resembled a cartoon character.
Hahn has a difficult connection with Christianity, yet she still seems to believe in it. “In my life, God remains the first and most significant thing. I really only talk to one other individual. I have a strong faith. I still have a strong faith in God. He wasn’t to blame. The mess wasn’t his, “She spoke.
Hahn was primarily avoiding the spotlight as of 2017 in favor of a quiet life in anonymity with her husband.
