Jimmy Swaggart, televangelist felled by sex scandal, dies at 90
Source: Washington Post
July 1, 2025 at 11:12 a.m. EDT
Jimmy Swaggart, an itinerant Louisiana preacher who became one of the most popular and polarizing Christian televangelists of his generation before a sex scandal etched in public memory by his tear-streaked televised confession consigned him to relative obscurity, died July 1. He was 90.
Jimmy Swaggart Ministries announced the death but did not share additional details. His son Donnie Swaggart, a fellow pastor, said on June 15 that his father went into cardiac arrest and was hospitalized in Baton Rouge.
Mr. Swaggart was one of a handful of televangelists who rose to global prominence in the second half of the 20th century, among them Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and Jerry Falwell.
At his peak, in the late 1980s, Mr. Swaggart reached millions of viewers in the United States and more than 100 other countries. His broadcasts generated revenue of $140 million a year with a signature combination of fire and brimstone, musical performances and the relentless marketing of Swaggart-branded items, including Bible study manuals, T-shirts, records, tapes, mugs, plates, Roman coins and copies of Jesus crown of thorns. At its height, his Baton Rouge-based ministry operated the largest mail-order business in Louisiana.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/07/01/jimmy-swaggart-televangelist-dead/
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Tarzanrock
(1,250 posts)Srkdqltr
(8,712 posts)lapfog_1
(31,145 posts)if you believe in such things.
chowder66
(11,024 posts)Sibelius Fan
(24,719 posts)Theres no hell. Just glad that asshole is dead.
orleans
(36,297 posts)colorado_ufo
(6,100 posts)'What took the Hell so long?"
Ocelot II
(126,340 posts)maybe I'm mixing him up with other Hell-bound grifting TV preachers like Pat Robertson.
Moostache
(10,705 posts)I assume that worthless criminal grifter had died in some squalid hell hole years ago.
Good riddance to bad garbage. If I believed in an actual "Hell" he would be one of the rotational gatekeepers for sure.
hlthe2b
(110,830 posts)--with the pup.... Clearly THEY knew something...
tonekat
(2,295 posts)To a hateful, greedy waste of good air.
eShirl
(19,417 posts)valleyrogue
(2,245 posts)He is 85 years old, and his health hasn't been that great in recent years. He has battled strokes, so he is absent from his television program quite a bit.
wolfie001
(5,773 posts)Mainly because of the leadership of that fat orange racist homophobic imbecile.
sinkingfeeling
(56,011 posts)wolfie001
(5,773 posts)I thought the f6cker was already dead.
eShirl
(19,417 posts)JoseBalow
(8,028 posts)(9:05)
The suite consists of the following three songs:
Norwegian Wood - re-styled as "Norwegian Jim", the words describe the encounter of Swaggart with a prostitute. An amusing insertion is the repetition of a riff from Leonard Bernstein's song "I Feel Pretty" from "West Side Story."
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - re-styled as "Louisiana Hooker with Herpes" with appropriate lyrics.
Strawberry Fields Forever - re-styled as "Texas Motel", but the refrain changes constantly.
Zappa targets, in addition to Swaggart, fellow evangelists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, as well as Reagan administration figures, John Poindexter and Edward Meese. The last two are usually referenced at the end of some incomprehensible lyric (often from the original song) as "actual testimony" probably meant as a reference to the less than candid public testimony of these figures at the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987.
atreides1
(16,799 posts)I thought he was already dead!
wolfie001
(5,773 posts)I thought so too!
Skittles
(166,360 posts)yes indeed
Basso8vb
(1,202 posts)I hope he was in pain.
DinahMoeHum
(23,097 posts)
Autumn
(48,186 posts)

SpankMe
(3,540 posts)I assumed his body was rattled by VD and he'd have succumbed sooner.
wolfie001
(5,773 posts)That would be a fitting way for him to live the rest of his pathetic, soulless days.
MIButterfly
(918 posts)Charlatans and con men, every damn one of them.
Just like I've never had any respect for doctors and psychiatrists who go on TV (Dr. Joyce Brothers; Dr. Oz; "Dr." Phil, etc.) I think they demean their professions.
As for Jimmy Swaggart, I don't celebrate his death, but I don't mourn it, either. I really don't care.
Updated: ambivalent was the wrong term to use. I guess I didn't really know the meaning of it like I thought I did.
wolfie001
(5,773 posts)She's a brave woman who stood up to that fat orange hate-filled bastard. She spoke those touching words at the Washington Cathedral!
Hassin Bin Sober
(27,177 posts)Dan
(4,856 posts)Pototan
(2,764 posts)Good riddance.
valleyrogue
(2,245 posts)mwmisses4289
(1,664 posts)Back in my young, dumb and stupid days, friends and I would spend time at Gilleys club. It closed down in the 1980's or 1990's due various legal issues. Good times.
republianmushroom
(20,797 posts)BattleRow
(1,747 posts)MLWR
(432 posts)"I don't care, do U?"
wolfie001
(5,773 posts)Love it!
Marthe48
(21,386 posts)Darn! I missed.
AverageOldGuy
(2,790 posts)Meanwhile, for you who don't know The Killer and his music -- here's the Wikipedia article.
&list=RDlgCNOsSYP4I&start_radio=1
swong19104
(468 posts)too late.
niyad
(125,643 posts)Jacson6
(1,464 posts)

Wounded Bear
(62,603 posts)progressoid
(51,676 posts)They just lie and call it fake news.
Wounded Bear
(62,603 posts)lastlib
(26,388 posts)They'll keep telling me he's dead, and I just love hearing them say that!
Remball
(1 post)If he repented his sins and truly accepted Jesus Christ as his savior while living, he has been forgiven of his sins and has not been relegated to Hell. It is never too late to do so.
Jacson6
(1,464 posts)
BattleRow
(1,747 posts)However,the record reflects less repent than respent of millions of donations dollars for dubious purchases.
LetMyPeopleVote
(167,036 posts)RedArkGuy
(822 posts)Kill, maim, torture, steal, blasphemize, etc and it's all just fine as long as you say the magic words before you go.
I don't buy it and I think it permits alleged Christians to do their worst because they can just wish it all away later.
greatauntoftriplets
(178,012 posts)I won't miss him one bit.
JoseBalow
(8,028 posts)
twodogsbarking
(14,670 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(24,248 posts)hunter
(39,722 posts)
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(126,620 posts)If there is a hell you know he's there.
bucolic_frolic
(51,641 posts)Perfect timing.
yourout
(8,512 posts)angrychair
(10,925 posts)I'm now against medical research dramatically extending our lives.
Could you imagine what our world would be like if these people could live healthy lives for hundreds of years?!?
Grokenstein
(6,086 posts)Swaggart: "Can I take it with me?"
Satan: (laughs)
biophile
(849 posts)Ray Bruns
(5,452 posts)From The Ashes
(2,723 posts)Jimmy Swaggart has died, so (quoting myself here) 'GOOD!'
Martin Eden
(14,676 posts)Jimmy Swaggert is dead.
Good.
LudwigPastorius
(13,056 posts)
doc03
(38,189 posts)llmart
(16,667 posts)some good news for today.
mgardener
(2,115 posts)Ive never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure,
Clarance Darrow
CTyankee
(66,670 posts)Never mind. Found it!
Bengus81
(9,099 posts)Good riddance you POS!
eppur_se_muova
(39,552 posts)Linda ladeewolf
(977 posts)Justice Brandeis
(117 posts)One less vote for their side.
area51
(12,388 posts)kskiska
(27,158 posts)no_hypocrisy
(52,422 posts)._.
(1,524 posts)Thank God!
SamKnause
(14,368 posts)Bengus81
(9,099 posts)Abstractartist
(289 posts)Hey Jimmy, Ill bet thats not the Baton Rouge heat you are feeling now Im thinking its some other hot place you deserve to spend eternity.🔥
EuterpeThelo
(68 posts)At least Ozzy outlived him!
karynnj
(60,433 posts)I wonder if his family and associates see how tarnished his legacy is that the prominent WP included this
valleyrogue
(2,245 posts)Rival televangelist Marvin Gorman, who died in 2017, was responsible for it. Swaggart publicly smeared him with adultery charges, but what Swaggart didn't know apparently Gorman had a son who was a cop. That cop kept tabs on Swaggart, ultimately discovering he was cavorting with prostitutes like Debra Murphree. Swaggart was caught with Murphree at an Airline Highway motel in Metairie, Louisiana, and the rest is history. Gorman sued Swaggart for defamation for $10 million, but it was settled out of court for $1.8 million.
Swaggart had been in the forefront of ousting Jim Bakker, along with Jerry Falwell and John Ankerberg, when Bakker had taken some time off to go to California to take care of then-wife Tammy Faye, who was dealing with ill health and substance abuse issues. It was the perfect opportunity for those people to try and seize control of PTL, which they did. Bakker was never allowed back. Swaggart for his part did this as revenge because Bakker yanked Swaggart's show from his network. Swaggart was increasingly engaging in anti-Catholic rants, and Bakker wanted nothing of the kind on the PTL Network, which broadcast in many Catholic-dominated countries.
Marvin Gorman's lawyer went into detail about the Swaggart scandal in his book, Let Us Prey.
As for Swaggart, he is a prime example of FAFO.
karynnj
(60,433 posts)- just the seemingly never ending headlines of disgraced evangelical leaders.
valleyrogue
(2,245 posts)What we got in the media just scratched the surface.
It is endlessly fascinating. I watched most of those shows years ago.
Xolodno
(7,092 posts)They will shiv you the second they have the chance. You are not considered a "brother", you are a rival that is taking "donation" money from them. Thus, they want you out of the way.
valleyrogue
(2,245 posts)cutthroat it was and is.
Tammy Faye Messner had little good to say about Jerry Falwell because Falwell took over PTL in order to get the satellite network. He deliberately bankrupted PTL in order to get it, but in the end, he failed. Compared to many of his rivals, Jim Bakker was a saint. Swaggart, Falwell, John Ankerberg and others undercut Bakker when Bakker went to Palm Springs in order to be with Tammy when she was having ill health and substance abuse problems. These snakes wouldn't let Bakker back. Swaggart knew about the Hahn payoffs and other things, but he was out for revenge when Bakker kicked him and his show off his network for the anti-Catholic rants.
Brainfodder
(7,555 posts)Well earned Jimmy!