A year-long legal battle that captured the attention of faith communities and legal observers nationwide has come to a close, as Bishop T.D. Jakes and Pittsburgh-area pastor Duane Youngblood agreed to dismiss a high-profile federal lawsuit. The dispute, which began with explosive allegations aired on YouTube and culminated in a dramatic courtroom saga involving artificial intelligence and ethical violations, ended on October 16, 2025, with a joint filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Jakes, the renowned televangelist and founder of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, initially sued Youngblood on November 25, 2024. The lawsuit stemmed from two 2024 podcasts posted to YouTube by Atlanta pastor-broadcaster Larry Reid, in which Youngblood accused Jakes of attempted sexual assault dating back to the 1980s. According to The Dallas Morning News, Youngblood’s allegations were made during appearances on the talk show Larry Reid Live, where he claimed to have been abused by multiple ministers as a young man and asserted that such experiences contributed to his own criminal behavior. Youngblood, a registered sex offender, was previously convicted of sexual assault in 2008 and corruption of minors in 2014, as confirmed by the Pennsylvania sex offender registry.
Just one day before filing the lawsuit, Jakes suffered a heart attack while preaching at The Potter’s House, an incident that drew widespread attention to both his health and the brewing legal fight. Jakes later described the event as a heart attack in an interview with The Today Show. The lawsuit alleged that Youngblood’s public accusations not only harmed Jakes’s reputation but also contributed to his health crisis. In a letter dated November 15, 2024—shortly after the second podcast aired—Youngblood’s then-attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, demanded a $6 million financial settlement from Jakes to resolve the matter privately, according to court documents cited by The Roys Report and The Dallas Morning News. Jakes’s attorneys argued that this constituted an attempt at extortion.
The legal dispute quickly escalated, with Jakes seeking damages for defamation, misuse of likeness, and related claims tied to Youngblood’s online statements and digital content. Youngblood, who leads The Church of the Harvest in Pittsburgh, denied any wrongdoing through his counsel, maintaining that his statements were constitutionally protected expressions of opinion or commentary on matters of public concern.
The case took several dramatic turns over the following months. In February 2025, Youngblood’s brother Richard filed a sworn affidavit alleging that he, too, had experienced unwanted sexual advances from Jakes. Jakes responded forcefully, stating in a February affidavit, “The statements in these affidavits purport to describe situations where I harbored carnal desires for these men. These statements are knowingly and flagrantly false.” According to The Dallas Morning News, Jakes vehemently denied all allegations from both brothers.
Meanwhile, the legal proceedings became increasingly mired in controversy. In June 2025, Youngblood’s attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, withdrew from the case after Jakes’s legal team accused him of fabricating quotes in his court filings. Blackburn admitted to using a new AI program to draft the briefs, which resulted in fabricated legal citations and misrepresentations. U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, a 2019 appointee of President Donald Trump, sanctioned Blackburn, describing his conduct as “a clear ethical violation of the highest order.” The judge imposed a $5,000 fine on Blackburn, to be paid to Jakes’s attorneys, and emphasized that the misuse of AI in legal documents could not be excused. “At this point, any attorney—but especially attorneys like Blackburn with a cosmopolitan, multi-state, practice—cannot plead ignorance to justify their use or misuse of AI in drafting legal documents,” Stickman wrote in his decision, as reported by The Roys Report.
With Blackburn’s exit and mounting legal costs, both parties appeared to lose their appetite for further litigation. On October 16, 2025, attorneys for Jakes and Youngblood jointly filed a Notice of Dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The filing, signed by attorneys on both sides, confirmed that “all sides agreed to end the matter without prejudice,” meaning the plaintiff may refile the same claim in the future if desired. Because the notice was submitted under this rule, the dismissal took effect immediately, and the court is not expected to issue any further opinion.
Legal analysts, citing both The Roys Report and The Dallas Morning News, note that such dismissals are typically entered when parties reach an agreement outside of court—either a settlement or a decision that continuing litigation no longer serves their interests. The details of any private agreement between Jakes and Youngblood remain undisclosed, and neither party immediately responded to requests for comment from the press. A staffer at Youngblood’s legal office told The Dallas Morning News that she would pass on a request for comment, but no response was received as of publication.
Jakes’s attorney, Dustin A. Pusch of Meier Watkins Phillips Pusch LLP, issued a statement to The Roys Report following the dismissal: “The Court has consistently ruled in Bishop Jakes’s favor throughout this matter, and with the established record in the case proving the utter falsity of these claims, there is nothing further to pursue. In the interest of judicial efficiency and closure for all involved, Bishop Jakes has chosen to dismiss the remaining claims and focus his attention on continuing the global ministry and community work that have defined his life for nearly five decades.”
Jakes, now 68, has been a towering figure in American Christianity since founding The Potter’s House in 1996. The church grew rapidly, eventually boasting a membership of 30,000, according to its website. In July 2025, Jakes transferred leadership of the church to his daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Touré Roberts—a move that signaled a new era for the megachurch and allowed Jakes to focus on broader ministry and community efforts.
The lawsuit’s conclusion leaves lingering questions about the use of digital platforms for airing sensitive allegations, the ethical boundaries of AI tools in the legal profession, and the reputational risks faced by high-profile religious leaders. It also underscores the legal system’s struggle to keep pace with rapidly evolving technology and the complexities of public discourse in the digital age.
As the dust settles, both Jakes and Youngblood return to their respective ministries—one with a renewed focus on global outreach, the other facing the ongoing consequences of his criminal record and public controversies. For now, the courtroom drama has ended, but the broader debates it sparked about faith, reputation, and the power of digital media remain very much alive.
