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Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's son reveals a side of the infamous televangelists that you've NEVER seen before - as he lifts the lid on his late mother's scandalous legacy and his 'complicated' relationship with his ailing father
The son of infamous 1980s televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner is set to reveal the true story of his family's colorful life in an upcoming documentary.
Ahead of its release, Jay Bakker, 48, spoke to DailyMail.com about the shocking new details he will lay bare in the series, Better Angels: The Gospel According to Tammy Faye
Jay explained that he hopes the project will shed new light on his mother's legacy - which has been the subject of much Hollywood speculation, taking center stage in an Oscar-winning film starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield.
Jay insists that his parents' story is 'far more complicated' than people realize - although he noted he will attempt to capture every side of their scandalous history by featuring both 'friends and enemies' of the controversial Christian megastars.
During an interview with DailyMail.com, Jay also lifted the lid on his 'strange' relationship with dad Jim, 84 - who is currently in the midst of a serious health battle.
The son of infamous 1980s televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner (pictured) is set to reveal the true story of his family's colorful life in an upcoming documentary
Jay Bakker, 48, (pictured) tells Dailymail.com that his parents' story is 'far more complicated' than people realize
The Bakkers got their start by appearing on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network in 1966, before branching out on their own to launch the PTL Satellite Network in 1974.
Their fame and following grew over the next decade until 1986, when PTL reported staggering proceeds of $129 million.
The former couple's evangelical empire included bestselling books, music, and a Christian theme park called Heritage USA.
Things came crashing down after a string of scandals, which included everything from misappropriating church funds to paying PTL secretary Jessica Hahn $279,000 in 'hush money' following an alleged sexual encounter.
Jim was indicted on mail fraud and wire fraud in 1988 and sentenced to 45 years in prison, but was freed after serving five years following a successful sentence-reduction hearing.
Despite the crimes and misdeeds surrounding his parents, Jay insists that the pair were largely misunderstood by the public.
'I grew up with my parents being very open to everyone and loving everyone,' he explained.
The Bakkers got their start by appearing on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network in 1966, before branching out on their own to launch the PTL Satellite Network in 1974
Their fame and following grew over the next decade until 1986, when PTL reported staggering proceeds of $129 million and turned the couple into Christian megastars
Things came crashing down after a string of scandals, which ended with Jim serving five years in prison on fraud charges
'My mother was able to bring people together that normally aren't together, especially in the States, where we're very split politically.
'She could could be with drag queens one day and then be with Baptist church people the next day.'
With her outlandish makeup, gaudy sense of style and infectious enthusiasm, Tammy became a campy gay icon throughout the eighties and nineties.
But it was also her activism that endeared her to the queer community - most notably when she interviewed HIV-positive AIDS activist Steve Pieters live on Christian television.
In the groundbreaking 1985 interview, Tammy spoke to Steve, who was openly gay, about his sexuality and battle with HIV, and urged her viewers to practice compassion towards homosexuals and people battling HIV.
Jay, a punk rock enthusiast who is covered in tattoos, said that both of his parents were always supportive of his edgy style and encouraged his love of music from a young age.
'My parents took me to see the Christian band Stryper before they were really accepted. I must've been nine or 10 years old, and they were playing in a bar. I don't think you're supposed to take a nine year old to a bar, but somehow Jim and Tammy did it!' he shared.
'She could could be with drag queens one day and then be with Baptist church people the next day,' Jay says of late mom Tammy Faye
With her outlandish makeup, gaudy sense of style and infectious enthusiasm, Tammy became a campy gay icon throughout the eighties and nineties and was known for her activism
As he got older, open-minded Tammy continued to support her son's unconventional lifestyle - which included launching his own progressive, LGBT-affirming church called Revolution.
'We have people in the congregation that are conservatives and that are liberals and that are atheist, and we sometimes argue, but we've really worked on learning to disagree well,' Jay explained.
'I always say [Revolution] is a good waiting room for either leaving Christianity or coming to Christianity. But my goal is to bring peace to folks, and in in a way, follow in the footsteps of people like Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi.'
Jay said his parents always supported his work with Revolution - and that dad Jim even spoke at a Revolution church gathering in Brooklyn.
'He knew I was [LGBT] affirming and things like that, and I know he didn't completely agree with me on it, but he was able to do that,' Jay shared.
'They knew what it was like to be innovators. They knew what it was like to think differently and try to be inclusive to people and that I was doing something that they might not understand, but they knew what it was like to not be understood.'
Jay says that both of his parents refused to endorse political candidates back in the day and instead preached the message that, 'God loves conservatives and democrats'
Jay, a punk rock enthusiast who is covered in tattoos, said that both of his parents were always supportive of his edgy style and even took him to Christian rock concerts as a child
The former couple's son says that there's a misconception around how his parents spent their money - despite dad Jim being jailed for defrauding his flock out of $158million
He also insists that dad Jim, who has become known for his apocalyptic sermons and passionate support of Donald Trump in recent years, was never actually conservative during the glory days of the PTL network.
'He wouldn't join the Christian right, and when they asked him to join the Moral Majority, he said no,' Jay shared.
'And when he came out of prison he was a Democrat! He supported Bill Clinton. I mean, he couldn't vote because he was out of prison, but yeah.'
He said that both of his parents refused to endorse political candidates back in the day and instead preached the message that, 'God loves conservatives and democrats.'
However, Jay admits that his father slowly shifted to a more right wing ideology after being released from prison in 1994.
'Over the years since he got out of prison, I guess the church evangelicals have kind of brought him back in and he became more conservative,' he explained.
'Now it's like the world's ending. Everything's bad, you know he kinda had this shift, but I also think it's the only thing he knows how to do.'
He also admitted that Tammy, who divorced Jim in 1992 while he was still in prison, may have been the driving force behind his dad's once progressive outlook.
'I do feel like my mom pushed my dad to be more inclusive and to be more progressive, and I think had they still been together after prison, my dad may have taken another another journey,' he mused.
Jim was more progressive in his younger years and refused to join the Christian right, says Jay
The preacher has become known for his apocalyptic sermons and passionate support of Donald Trump in recent years
'Over the years since he got out of prison, I guess the church evangelicals have kind of brought him back in and he became more conservative,' Jay said of his father
Tammy remarried builder Roe Messner in 1993 and was with him until her death from cancer in 2007 at age 65, while Jim married fellow televangelist Lori Bakker in 1998.
As Jim has grown increasingly more conservative in his later years, Jay says that his father fears his son may not make it into heaven due to his progressive theology.
'I'm like, "Well dad, if I get there and they don't want me in, I'll just tell them I believe too much about that stuff Jesus said about loving people, and that you and mom always told me to forgive people, so I'll just blame you guys!"
'And he laughed at that. But I don't believe in hell, and that's a problem for him as well.'
Surprisingly, Jay says that his biggest bonding years with his father were while the TV preacher was incarcerated for fraud.
'The prison thing was really an important time for me with him, because he was always so busy that I never really could get his attention,' said Jay, who was barely a teenager when Jim was locked up.
'He worked all the time - it was a wild time. Everybody was like, "they're stealing all this money and doing all this stuff!" And I'm like, "I don't know where they're spending it because he works all the time."
'I mean, maybe he had a Rolex watch so maybe that's it. Other than that, he always worked. I was afraid to wake my parents up in the middle of the night when I was sick because they were always so busy,' he continued.
'And when dad went to prison is when we became friends.'
Jay believes that his parents were turned into scapegoats by the public, who he says blamed the pair for everything from the excesses of the eighties to the rise of right wing televangelists like Jerry Falwell - who would go on to take over PTL Ministries in 1987 under questionable circumstances.
'My parents equally offended people like the mainline denominations, like Presbyterians and Lutherans. They thought my parents were too outlandish and too gaudy,' he explained.
'And then the conservatives thought, "Well, they're a little bit too liberal." And it was just this perfect storm ... it was just like everybody took their anger towards the eighties culture of greed and said, "Well, it must be these people."
'Had my parents not had their scandal, my dad would have never spent a day in prison because all those buildings would have been finished and all that stuff would have happened,' he continued.
Jim married fellow televangelist Lori Bakker (pictured) in 1998 and together the couple host The Jim Bakker Show
Jim paid PTL secretary Jessica Hahn (pictured) $279,000 in 'hush money' following an alleged sexual encounter
Jay also believes that 'classism' played a role in how his ostentatious parents were treated.
'My parents, for them it was fancy to go to Red Lobster. My mom's favorite restaurant was Applebee's. And so I think there was some classism there too,' he said.
'Back then there were southern liberals who just thought, "Oh, Jim and Tammy have bad taste." You couldn't really win.
'And people were like, "They're taking advantage of little old ladies." But the average age of the supporters of Heritage USA were people between the ages of 35 and 45, with families.'
Jay says that there's a misconception around how his parents spent their money - despite dad Jim being jailed for defrauding his flock out of $158million.
'A lot of people don't realize they were paying hundreds... They had hundreds of people on their staff,' he said.
'They were building buildings and putting in sewage and putting in electricity. And where all that money was going, was it going into those things that they were building?' he questioned.
Jay also points out that his parents didn't run commercials on the PTL Network, so they had to pay for all the airtime out of their own pockets.
'It's so much more complicated than people want it to be,' he stressed.
'A lot of people don't know that my parents, if they would have taken royalties from their books and tapes, they would have made twice as much than they were paid. but they gave all of that back to Heritage USA - all that went to the church.'
Jay says that looking back, he wishes his parents had just taken the royalties owed to them and left the church money alone.
'I've even had my parents tell me at times, "We probably should have told the board we don't need to be paid that much." But you feel like you're being rewarded for doing something right, you know?' he explained.
Jay added that he 'doesn't defend' everything his parents did, but said that he wishes the public better understood the complexities of the situation.
The progressive pastor is now focused on continuing to work with his own church, Revolution, which unlike his parents' multimillion-dollar ministry, does not afford Jay a life of luxury.
'I just had to raise $300 for us to meet our budget this month,' he confessed.
'I'm constantly head above water, applying for part time jobs and things like that,' he continued.
'I don't have to have a nice car. I'm happy having a beat up car that gets me to A to B and reading philosophy and loving punk rock. I just wanna be a good dad and take care of my kids.'
He's also working on keeping his late mother's memory alive with the Better Angels documentary, which just screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
'I think the film will allow people to see [Tammy's] whole story in a completely different light,' he says.
The film features interviews with people who worked with the Bakkers and the PTL church, as well as 'friends and enemies' of the couple to tell an 'honest' story of Tammy Faye's life.
'Everybody has their own opinions and it would be nice to be able to get out our truth as well,' Jay said.
'You hear the story told over and over again, and you just want the story to be told right.'
Tammy returned to the public eye in the '90s and early 2000s with books, documentaries, and TV appearances that included a stint on VH1's The Surreal Life
Jay's four-part docuseries Better Angels: The Gospel According to Tammy Faye will tell the 'real' story of his mother's life and legacy
Jay runs his own progressive online church called Revolution, which preaches grace and tolerance
The Bakkers' lavish life came crashing down in 1986 thanks to an exposé in The Charlotte Observer, which revealed how the couple were spending the donations to their ministry.
The most damning was the $279,000 that Jim paid to silence secretary Jessica Hahn for what he claimed was a consensual sexual encounter - but she says she was manipulated and pressured into having sex with both Jim and pastor John Wesley Fletcher.
It was also revealed that Jim had been selling lifetime memberships to Heritage USA that far exceeded the available space at the time, an offense that landed him behind bars.
Although Jim had planned to finish building Heritage, which would've eventually provided enough space to meet the memberships he'd sold, he was ultimately convicted on 24 counts of mail and wire fraud and conspiracy.
Jim was sentenced to 45 years in prison, which was reduced over time, allowing the disgraced minister to walk free after just five years.
There were problems even before that exposé, with the IRS discovering in 1985 that $1.3 million in ministry funds had been misappropriated and put into the pockets of Jim and Tammy Faye.
It was far more than that however, with jurors hearing at Jim's trial how the couple spent over a million dollars on furs and jewelry, purchased homes and condos, erected biblical statues and spent $2,000 a month on electricity to heat their swimming pools according to a former aide.
That aide also claimed couple spent $105,000 to move belongings by private jet.
Tammy was never charged and stood by her husband's side during their trial, but divorced him while he was in jail and then faded from the spotlight.
She later returned to the public eye in the '90s and early 2000s with books, documentaries, and TV appearances that included a stint on VH1's The Surreal Life.
She battled cancer for over a decade, before her death in 2007 age 65.
Jessica Chastain won the Best Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards in 2022 for playing Tammy Faye
The Hollywoo starlet transformed herself into the evangelical icon for the role
Jim returned to televangelism in 2003 alongside second wife Lori, and together they host The Jim Bakker Show.
In 2021, a Missouri court ordered Jim and his church to pay back $156,000 to followers to settle a lawsuit that accused him of selling a fake COVID-19 cure called Silver Solution for $125 each.
The preacher and his Morningside Church Productions Inc. were sued by Republican Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt in 2020 after Jim claimed on-air that the health supplement could cure COVID.
The 84-year-old is currently recovering from some recent health woes, which he detailed in a statement issued on January 31.
'Over the past few weeks, I have been in and out of the hospital. My body has been very weak and there have been moments where I have lost my speech, thankfully, I have gained it back,' he wrote.
'I am doing physical therapy to get the strength back in my body,' he continued.
'I will be taking time to rebuild my strength, and during this period, I’ll be leaning on my faith and hope in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I plan to return with a refreshed perspective and finish this race strong.'