At this point, I had a sense of dj vu, a flashback to other scandal-plagued gurus I'd interviewed, like the New Age teacher and ex-rabbi Marc Gafni, who had been accused of plagiarism, serial dishonesty, and sexual misconduct with a 13-year-old (his excuse was that she'd been 14), or the Zen master Eido Shimano, who'd been seducing and emotionally abusing his female students for decades. His old jet (not to be confused with his other two old jets) was wearing a little thin at the seams, and he just knew his followers would help him, a humble servant of Jesus. Akil Sharif Bey. How old is Peter Popoff? They would take the stones out, take the gold to be resold. Anything that wasn't valuable was shredded. I held up my broken finger. Two rings through his lower lip framed his broad smile. He came to me when I least expected. If youre unfamiliar with Duplantis, heres a quick rundown: Hes charismatic, an excellent orator and spouts Bible quotes like nobodys business. Skelton didn't return my calls, so one Sunday, I staked out his house in Mesquite, a hard-luck Dallas exurb. Berlin wasn't divided into east and west until 1949, three years after Popoff was born. His whole life was all about spreading the news. And he was as mesmerizing as ever. Program Overview", "White Preachers Born Again on Black Network; TV Evangelists Seek to Resurrect Ministries", "Miracle Water: Ripoff or For Real Part II", "Prophet or profit? We are a prosperity ministry that preaches prosperity, Nick added. He said he was the only guy in receivingif it came to Unit Pack, it came to him. He said he prayed so hard over the letters that the ink leaked into his bloodstream, and by the way that's why he needed plastic surgery, paid for by aforementioned donations. Peter's list included more crusades, Book some fun trips including Italy, Skiing, and Lake Tahoe, and, at number five, Tax Exemption in Canada. It was an astonishing prcis of the prosperity gospel. We started talking. If you're looking for a celebrity figure that's going to get hit with a scandal, you'd do alright perusing the ranks of televangelists. In the late 1980s he was exposed as a fraud on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. (Turned out, an Popoff talked about everything, without a trace of defensiveness. According to publicly available IRS forms, by 2003, Popoff 's new organization was netting over $9 million a year and Popoff was paying himself and his wife a combined salary of more than half a million dollars a year; their son, daughter, and son-in-law were each netting over a hundred grand. In each case, I was shocked that they'd agreed to be interviewed, until I realized, as I sat with them, that they didn't think they had anything to hide. But when I asked about the earpiece, Popoff was happy to talk. The accusations are numerous and diverse. Yet here he was, all these years later, peddling miracle water and his own healing touch to an audience of African-Americans who seemed not to have gotten the memo that he was a mountebank. Peter Popoff Net Worth: Peter Popoff is a German American televangelist and faith healer who has a net worth of $10 million. Before I knew it, he was upon me. Unfortunately for the reverend, that last part broughteverything tumbling down. "Flim flam is his profession," Randi explained to reporter Matt Meaghan. Peter Popoff says hes a healer and a prophet of God. With his grinning California charm, charismatic preaching methods, and Mother Goosian alliterative name, Popoff was the man to see in the '80s for revival services and quick-as-a-bunny faith healing. Ah, but here in America, time absolves all that. I had expected to be rebuffed. If you accept, as Pentecostal Christians do, that God performs miracles, on the body, soul, and bank account, then his ministry offers a series of fair exchanges between him and his audience. Hargis even went so far as to write a speech for Joseph McCarthy, the famous Communist witch hunter. The couple's 7,300-square-foot house, purchased for $4.5 million in 2007, sits in a gated community in Bradbury, California, and is owned by his church. This is what he said: That mess he got into, that was 30 years ago. At about half past noon, he and his wife pulled into the driveway, back from church, I figured. It had been years, and he had changed some: a few more wrinkles, a little hitch in his gait, the hair a bit more aggressively black. All proof of the miracle water's efficacy. I only grew more curious. In the below section you will more & more information. If you learn one thing today, let it be this: America is the land of second chances, and televangelism is the seedy island territory just offshore where we house third, fourth, and fifth chances. The resulting backlash was split. A loving wife. Apparently, plants in the audience would chat people up or get them to jot down details, then feed their information to Liz, who passed it on to her husband through an earpiece. I signed up for his mailing list. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. He had everything. Popoff had been the boldest and baddest of televangeliststhe most don't-give-a-damn cheesy. Yet here he was, all these years later, peddling miracle water and his own healing touch to an audience of African-Americans who seemed not to have gotten the memo that he was a mountebank. [11] The powers he claimed included the abilities to heal the sick and foretell the future. British telecommunications regulator Ofcom (UK Office of Communication) has fined a UK television network for airing the program of discredited TV The prevailing sentiment in the room was Thanks be to Godbut also Thanks be to Peter Popoff. On the days when the Holy Spirit didn't show up freely, you had to help it along; after all, you still needed to pass the hat. [41] Respondents were promised miraculous protection from disease and disability, along with financial prosperity (which might include "divine money transfers directly into your account"), if they slept with the water for one night before drinking it, then prayed over the empty bottle and sent it back to Popoffwith a donation. Did he fear God just enough to gesture toward authenticity, so that if he was ever questioned at the pearly gates about the millions of dollars of other people's gold and silver and Social Security money, he could say that in every New Jersey-packed packet of holy water there was a minuscule amount of blessing? Prosperity preacher buys jet, mansion with church dollars, LSU Manship student dies in hospital after being struck by vehicle, Greek Life alumni discuss friendships after graduation: 'You have a group of friends who you can count on', Spring back into the semester: Fun events and activities for LSU students, LSU to make 121 Native American skeletal remains available for return to tribes by end of 2023, Report: Former five-star quarterback Walker Howard enters transfer portal, Opinion: Goal-setting is important for young adults, This Week In Baton Rouge: LSU Gymnastics, Involvement Fest, Yappy Hour, How much do LSU football players eat? Head of the Trinity Foundation Ole Anthony has cited the prosperity gospel and preachers like Duplantis as the cause of the overwhelming number of homeless and poverty-stricken people who visit his soup kitchen. And Lord, was he rich! I knew about televangelists, Sanchez said. And according to a document related to his purchase of a Bentley in January 2009, Peter listed his monthly income at $100,000. The pivot has allowed Popoff to slip from the shadow of his old scandal and, in the years since, quietly rebuild his empire. According to him, declaring bankruptcy was a mistake, the misguided suggestion of lawyers. What's the deal? Arthritis, they said. He has also a nick name and it is Peter Popoff. And as I wondered what on earth this pasty alter kocker was doing on black TV, it came to me: I had seen this man before. Or kidney problems, a bum ticker, thyroid. Falwell certainly had the resume to back up the job. Both men went into the family business, suffered reversals, went bankrupt, seemed destined to be TV-rerun laughingstocks. His wife stuck with him, even after he was sued for allegedly going all "bad touch" on employees during mandated "quiet time.". I put it in his bed, I put it on his pillow, and my son joined the church and he got saved and he's still in churchand then I got $3,800 and new furniture., Such blessings! [52] A 2012 Broadway musical adaptation of the same title was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Musical. He's the founder of the Daystar Television Network, the second-largest Christian TV network on Earth. You've been to Europe? When he exposed fellow TV preacher Marvin Gorman for having extramarital affairs, that guy wound up out of a job. When Peter Popoff finally emerged, he gave a short sermon, but his heart wasn't in it. The story goes like this. Mark Oppenheimer is the editor-at-large at Tablet magazine. View the profiles of people named Peter Popoff. Ted Haggard was the Chiclet-toothed face of evangelism for three years as the president of the National Association of Evangelicals. AMC is broadcasting a Peter Popoff "service" (scam session) as I type. Though he didn't focus on TV, he lived the good life as a minister and Christian comedian, traveling the world spreading his message that the devil is coming for you and you'd better be ready to fight him. But in 2006, it reorganized and aligned itself with a small ministry called Word for the World, which operated out of a tiny storefront church in Farmers Branch, Texas. He believes in divine magic-but not at the expense of the work ethic. Televangelists Who Were Anything But Holy. As I sat with the gregarious, affable Popoff, I understood: He believes he is helping people. And getting off crutches, that was big, toothis is why people needed Popoff's healing touch. The workload depended on what Popoff was saying on his paid television spots. In 2003 and 2005, his service got more than $9.6 million and $23 million, individually. I knew there had been scams. He's very good at it, and naturally he's going to go back to it. Beginning in the mid-2000s, Popoff bought TV time to promote "Miracle Spring Water" on late-night infomercials, and referred to himself as a prophet. [3] " We've done so many stories about him, but it never does any good," said Ole Anthony, founder of Trinity Foundation, which has investigated Popoff and other faith healers since 1987. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has given permission for his private jet to be used in the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines' flight MH370, according to the New Zealand Herald. He touched it and le t loose a loud stream of glossolalia, speaking in tongues, as Pentecostals do. It's also extra-strength shady, according to allegations made by Jan and Paul's granddaughter Brittany Koper. Interestingly, it also states in Matthew that Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." It was a touching moment of humility from atop a pillar normally reserved for moral superiority. [18], At the height of his popularity in the 1980s, Popoff would accurately announce home addresses and specific illnesses of audience members during his "healing sermons", a feat that he implied was due to divine revelation and "God-given ability". Want to share an anonymous news tip? I ate an offensive linemans diet to find out, LSU professor promoted after misconduct allegations, lawsuit against accuser, PHOTOS: LSU gymnastics narrowly falls to Oklahoma. People reached out to touch him, their hands seeming to plead, Help me. He picked people out and asked what was wrong. In a broadcast from 2015, Duplantis and fellow preacher Kenneth Copeland said it was because regular airliners are filled with people who would constantly be asking them to pray. I was walking out toward my car when I saw a guy pulling down the metal door at a loading dock on the side of the building. Life was a hoot and a holler for Haggard. A lot of that has to do with the minister's legal troubles and fall from public grace. After graduating from college, Popoff married his wife, Liz, and they embarked on an itinerant life, preaching the Pentecostal gospel across the country. [28], Octogenarian Larry Skelton, a former organist of Popoff from 1965 to 1990, and for Peter's father before that said, "When you're praying for the sick, it's through the Holy Spirit, and there's some times that it works freely, and then there are other times when the Spirit's just not there." The night that I was healed and hugged by Peter Popoff, I saw no sign that he was using an earpiece. Tilton's rebuttal? [14], Researcher and bioethics expert Fred M. Frohock cited Popoff as "one of many egregious instances of fake healing. In theory, it's a beautiful way to spread a message of faith to the masses. I've seen people with a short leg that had, for a while, a six-inch buildup on one of their shoes, said Skelton, who's 80, ten years older than Popoff. His message hasn't changed, The Washington Post noted in 1998, but the audience he is aiming for has.. I've been working for 50 years, Popoff told me. When I got home, I began devouring episodes of the new Popoff show. He was hugging people, punching the air with them. He claimed to be able to diagnose (and cure) any of his churchgoers' hidden diseases just by asking the There was no church sign outsideand certainly no sign of a church inside. The other, somebody higher up, told me that the distribution of the miracle spring water was subcontracted to a packaging plant in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Peter Popoff Email Helicopter Pilot @ US Army View Peter's Email (It's Free) 5 free lookups per month. Peter Popoff was back. And then came something I didn't expect: love from the crowd, people rubbing me on my back after I sat down, touching me, giving me high fives, saying, Praise the Lord! It felt so good that even if my pinkie had been causing excruciating pain, or even if I'd had a far worse condition, something that in my heart I'd known was incurable, I'm sure that, for the moment, I would not have noticed. Popoff is better than he knows. The incoming monthly take went down by a third for three months; the fourth month it stabilized, and the fifth month it started growing again, Popoff said. 28. So I asked friends in ten locales spread across the country to give $10 to Popoff, then sit back and wait for tickets. Right alongside our Puritan work ethic and entrepreneurial drive runs our instinctive love for the lottery. Fans of Robert Tilton know him as the host of Success-N-Life. One former resident of Washington D.C. who recently relocated to Palm Beach, Florida, and is quite happy to be pictured with private jets, surely will be pleased to know that They want to take the stand. Regular meth-fueled hookups with a male prostitute named Mike Jones. Cut to the mid-'70s. Ernest Angley has been having a rough go of things lately. I wiggled my pinkiewhich I had been able to do, anywayand he shouted, You are healed! and gave me a long, tight hug. What makes Warnke's case all the more fascinating is that he was actually outed as a fraud by a Christian publication, Cornerstone Magazine, in an expos in 1991. Our board of directors, Popoff said, felt it was in the best interests. Popoff didn't mention another possible benefit: With this new status, his ministry would no longer be required to disclose its annual income or its salaries to the IRS. Early frequenters of YouTube know him as The Farting Preacher. When you're praying for the sick, it's through the Holy Spirit, and there's some times that it works freely, and then there are other times when the Spirit's just not there, Skelton said. Things get creepier the more you read about the Alamos. Meanwhile, as chief administrative officer (Amy) and executive vice president (Nick), they prosper alongside him. Peter Popoff is the all-American faith healer because he inhabits both hemispheres of our national brain, the Puritan and the magician. They cant be faulted for the misdeeds of Duplantis, but its important that we all exercise a little caution when choosing our religious conduit. The family business is theirs to inherit, and both told me that they have the gift and could take over someday. Once, Peter Popoff was a giant among '80s televangelists, wealthy until being ruined in scandal. She had first responded to my pestering a few months earlier, but I never expected that the Popoffs would consent to an interview. According to her, the network serves as a personal bank account for the Crouch family, who aren't above zany shenanigans like having their chauffeurs ordained to avoid having to pay taxes on their salaries. Both men have produced nothing, except, for their followers, fervent certainty that they can produce anything. His church, the Church of the Christian Crusade, spread a staunchly conservative interpretation of Christianity. I sensed the same ambivalence when I met Larry Skelton. Click "Submit" to let the Reveille's student journalists know. And then, on my way out, I got even closer to the truth. Sorry, that was a typo. [38] "Debt cancellation is part of God's plan", according to Popoff, who taught that God would respond to prayer and seed-faith by providing financial blessing. You serve a Jewish God! And, of course, everything came with requests for more money: REMEMBER YOU MUST SOW THE LARGEST BILL YOU HAVE OR THE LARGEST CHECK YOU CAN WRITE.. He works hard for his money. Warnke was sort of a big deal back in the day. If I wasn't going to see a service, I still wanted to visit Popoff's office. What did he make you do? Its new address was just down the road, I discovered, in a strip mall. [7][8][9], Popoff's father preached at revival meetings throughout the United States. What followed was a House of Cards-worthy circle of blackmail that saw Gorman reinstated and Swaggart taken off the air for a spell. For one, Jesse is wilier than other dime-a-dozen shameless televangelists. Border guards who could have had him arrested let him pass because they were hungry to know about God. In 1982 the AP reported on Popoff's use of helium balloons to deliver Bibles and gospel pamphlets from Finland into the Soviet Union. Wrapped in Styrofoam for buoyancy and waterproofing, the Bibles eventually washed up on Communist shores.. Was any of it true? "[45] Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation, founded in 1987 to research the claims of televangelists, said, "Most of these guys are fooled by their own theology"referring to other televangelists such as Joel Osteen and T. D. Jakesbut in the case of Popoff, "he's fundamentally evil, because he knows he's a con man. If you can't, you're in trouble", almost verbatim. I asked if Popoff was the real deal. "[30] In May 2007, ABC's 20/20 focused on Popoff's comeback and explored the lives of a few people who felt cheated. Amen! Watch Now: Patrick Stewart Reads 1-Star Reviews of Famous Monuments, Ab-Soul Hit His Lowest Point. He worked the aisles for two hours that night, back and forth, until finally he was in my section. Please share your most urgent need so we can agree together! For Peter Popoff, we do 35 gallon-size jugs at a time, once or twice a month. Oh, and in 2012, he was on Celebrity Wife Swap. Popoff's employees are on guard for more than just the media. It's now worth 10 million! he said. The home has a stunning view of the city, and is surrounded by lush gardens and a private pool. All of a sudden, that leg began to grow out to the same size as the other.. During an undercover investigation, ABC discovered that prayer letters sent to Robert Tilton's television ministry were sent straight to the bank, where their donations were marked and their prayers were thrown in the dumpster. [40], In the mid-2000s, Popoff began to offer "Miracle Spring Water" on late-night infomercials in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. It's the tradition of Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, and all the other TV preachers who rose up to take the place of the vanquished buffoons from the 1980s. Responders to the ad received a small wooden cross bearing the inscription "Jerusalem" and a solicitation for donations, followed by numerous additional solicitation letters. In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary An Honest Liar, we find out how magician-turned-debunker of psychics James "The Amazing" Randi worked with an undercover surveillance expert to expose how popular televangelist and "faith healer" Peter Popoff was deceiving his audience into believing he was conversing with Susan and Tony are broadcasting their gospel and living in a 14,000-square-foot mansion in Arkansas on a compound staffed by their followers, who are paid $5 a week and get food when they're good. In advance., The day after I talked with Skelton, he called me and asked if I could include one last sentiment, and I said I would. [21] With a scanner radio, Jason was able to demonstrate that Popoff's wife, Elizabeth, was using a radio transmitter to broadcast information that she and her aides had culled from prayer request cards filled out by audience members. She'd sold all her belongings. [39], In September 2015, Michael Marshall of the Good Thinking Society documented Popoff's latest promises of "fabulous extreme fortune" and "miracles" in exchange for donations to his organization. I'd be all for this if the company he ran was legitimate; however, he more or less takes money from people's belief in God, and makes false promises to cure ailments and bring financial success. [53], "Popoff" redirects here. I called and sent e-mails to Popoff's organization, People United for Christ, but nobody got back to me. [27] Popoff's attorney, William Simon, "attributed the collapse of his ministry to financial mismanagement more than to disclosures about Popoff. At a recent London gathering, GTS filmed Popoff "healing" a woman supposedly "wracked with pain", though Marshall and a colleague had previously seen herin no obvious distresshanding out pens and questionnaires to audience members. Truly, we are all human, and even the best among us must strive to be better. So one day I took the Garden State Parkway to have a look at Unit Pack, a family-run firm that specializes in packaging those little samples of shampoo, pharmaceuticals, and the like. I decided that I'd settle for a glimpse of one of his public crusades, maybe see some people get healed, but I discovered that they weren't advertised. With a promise to heal the sick, Popoff convened huge crowds, where he relied on a shtick that involved calling out the name and ailment of someone in the audience he had never met, as if God had just vouchsafed him the information. So that's fun. Best Match Pete W Popoff Seal Beach, CA (The Hill) AGE 80+ AGE 80+ Pete W Popoff Seal Beach, CA (The Hill) Aliases Peter W Popoff Phone Number Address Background Report Addresses In December, Popoff's daughter, Amy Cardiff, called me. Sitting on a stage, in an upholstered chair, Popoff implored his television audience to call an 800 number so that he could send them a secret faith tool that God had recently given him as he was praying about the four red moons of this year of Jubilee. If that wasn't incentive enough, there was more reason to reach for the phone. There's plenty of behavior to throw stones at here, but the Bible takes a pretty firm stance on that. Popoff, along with Don Stewart and Robert Tilton, received "criticism from those who say that preachers with a long trail of disillusioned followers have no place on a network that holds itself out as a model of entrepreneurship for the black community". They prey on the weak, the elderly, those in pain or close to being homeless. Some of the ladies had walkers or wheelchairs, some were healthy enough to dance in the aisles to the gospel music playing over loudspeakers. "[3] "Miracle Spring Water" promotions were still running on TV channels in the United States and Canada in 2022. They make him rich, pray with the trinkets, and maybe get rich, too. Like so many televangelists, Popoff had his heyday in the 1980s, back when preaching on TV was big businessand plenty mainstream. You have permission to edit this article. Like Popoff, they used the offer of a religious trinket (a free prayer cloth) to compile an address list. Pete Popoff We found 30 records for Pete Popoff in CA, FL and 6 other states. There's a lot of ground to cover with Jerry Falwell. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses and ailments of audience members during Popoff-led religious services. The parking lot was deserted, and the building was locked. A photograph in his 1980 memoir, Behind Curtains of Darkness a New Fire Is Blazing, shows Popoff in front of a boat, hair flowing like a Bee Gee's, two Bibles fanned in his left hand. He once sued Hustler for $45 million because they ran a parody piece making fun of him, and took the case all the way to the supreme court. So I made the ministry $5 million!, It wasn't always like this, Amy interrupted to say. If you remember reading about the Protestant Reformation and Martin Luthers criticism of selling indulgences, you know religious exploitation is nothing new. Before long, however, he'd rebranded his ministry as People United for Christ, and he'd reconsidered his audiencethis time focusing on African-Americans. Credit.com wrote a blog post concerning Popoff's claims. Yeah, he died in jail. You will lend and not borrow. (That one's from Joel Osteen.) The kicker was his conviction on 10 counts of transporting girls as young as 8 across state lines for the obvious, evil reason. The Popoff water is Poland Spring? I asked. The more skeptical would probably point to how easy it is to take advantage of a position of power. 20 Dislike Share. It all started in 1969 with a small ministry an hour outside Hollywood run by married couple Tony and Susan Alamo (ah-LAH-mo, but who cares). I didn't know it then, but I would soon get to ask Popoff in person. Jones figured out who Ted was during his non-meth-and-solicitation hours and blabbed to the press. A deluge of solicitation letters and token enclosures would follow, requesting more donations in exchange for miracles. Beginning in the mid-2000s, Popoff bought TV time to promote "Miracle Spring Water" on late-night infomercials, and referred to himself as a prophet. The same thing happened to him, but with a private jet instead of new kicks. He switched lady friends with Gary Busey. On December 21, Peter Popoff welcomed me into his office, where we were joined by Amy and Nick, the two children who work in the ministry (another son, Alexander, is in the military). Popoff would tell attendees suffering from a variety of illnesses to "break free of the devil" by throwing their prescription pills onto the stage. Where are you, Ada Mae?that sort of thing. Televangelist Jesse Duplantis and his ministry based in Destrehan, La. Staring at the TV, I was transfixed. The script includes Elizabeth Popoff's infamous line, "Hello Petey, can you hear me? He had an answer for everything, or almost everything. [1][13][21][22][23], Randi also planted accomplices in Popoff's audiences, including a man dressed as a woman whom Popoff "cured" of uterine cancer at a meeting in Detroit in 1984. I looked like the real deal: a man in need of supernatural healing. Let's take a look and find out. As a result, some televangelists have resorted to wacky tactics to get your money. I'll tell you where that pain went. He was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who gave him the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members during Popoff-led religious services. James Randi on Peter Popoff and Skepticism, "Scam Everlasting: After 25 Years, Debunked Faith Healer Still Preaching Debt Relief Scam", "1950 U.S. Census, Entry for Georg and Gerda Popoff Family", "The Annual Report of Private Giving for the Year Ending June 30, 2011", "Tent-show healers lay on technology, not hands", "God's Frequency is 39.17 MHz: The Investigation of Peter Popoff", "TV Evangelist Denies Use of Radio in Healing Service", Evangelist Popoff Off Air, Files Bankruptcy Petitions, "Secrets of the Psychics.
