this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2026
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[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 16 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

My mom for a while believed a TV evangelist for a while, I'll always remember his shit name. Jesse Duplanis. Told everyone he went to heaven and met Jesus on a deathbed experience before being "sent back to preach the good book". Of course it was the abundance gospel of he just happened to have a private jet and multiple mansions.

My gullible naive mother sent him money when she was most destitute thinking he knew how to make things better. At one point it was a full tithe, 10% of her income. I hope he rots in the ground.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 9 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Apparently he's still around.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Duplantis

In May 2018, national news media outlets reported that Duplantis had asked his followers to donate money to him so that he could buy a Dassault Falcon 7X, valued at $54 million.[4][5][6] Duplantis said that his organization, Jesse Duplantis Ministries, had already paid for three private jets by 2006, and that he had been using them by "just burning them up for the Lord Jesus Christ." Duplantis defended his choice by saying: "I really believe that if Jesus was physically on the earth today he wouldn't be riding a donkey. Think about that for a minute. He'd be in an airplane preaching the gospel all over the world."[7] In response to a wave of criticism, Duplantis stated on his ministry website, "I'm not asking you to pay for my plane, I'm asking you to pray for my plane."[8]

In 2016, Duplantis and fellow televangelist Kenneth Copeland defended their use of private jets with the claim that commercial planes were full of "demons".[9]

A few weeks later, Duplantis claimed the Second Coming was held up by a lack of donations, while touting his multi-millionaire status.[13]

In February 2024, Duplantis was named as a defendant in an amended civil securities fraud complaint filed by Colorado regulators concerning the promotion of the cryptocurrency INDXcoin. The complaint alleges that Duplantis was among individuals recruited by Denver pastor Eli Regalado to help sell unlicensed securities within Christian communities and that certain recruits received commission payments. The broader case claims INDXcoin raised more than $3 million from over 300 investors between 2022 and 2023 through promises of guaranteed returns based on divine guidance.

This makes me sad. I never hope for anyone to go, but I will be very happy and probably open champagne when he finally kicks it.