By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-27 18:16:03 | Updated at 2024-11-27 20:50:33
2 hours ago
A family-owned Christian TV network has been engulfed in a very public and bitter scandal around allegations of sex abuse against one of its staff, The Post has learned.
Former Daystar TV host Jonathan Lamb and his wife Suzy say they reported a family member who worked alongside them for alleged sexual assault of their then-five-year-old daughter in 2021, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
The company — one of the world’s largest Christian TV networks, which has approximately 100 channels and is run by Jonathan’s mom, CEO Joni Lamb — say they investigated the claims internally and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
They also point out the allegation, first reported by independent journalist Julie Roys, became public only days after Joni had fired Jonathan from the Bedford-based network earlier in November.
Joni also accused Jonathan in a public statement of engaging in a “failed power struggle” to gain control of the company after being “extremely disappointed” she was chosen as successor by her husband, Marcus, before he died in 2021.
Jonathan and Suzy, his former co-host on the show “The Green Room,” first reported allegations of abuse against their daughter to Colleyville Police in Texas in 2020.
According to the department, the case was closed that same year but subsequently re-opened this February when “additional details from the same incident were reported to the department.”
A spokesperson for Colleyville Police told The Post they couldn’t release further information as it is an open investigation. No charges against anyone have been brought at this time.
Jonathan and Suzy claim after their initial complaint was made, another alleged incident involving their daughter occurred, but when they told Joni and Marcus, they dissuaded them from reporting it to the police.
“I trusted [Joni] at the time … but it was a cover-up to protect Daystar and [other family members],” Suzy claimed in an interview with The Post.
Joni vehemently denies all allegations of a cover-up or dissuading her son and daughter-in-law from going to the police, saying they are “completely false”.
Suzy stopped working for Daystar in 2023.
That same year, Jonathan says he refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) from the company, which is worth about one billion dollars, employs about 300 staff and turns over approximately $100 million annually, he told The Post.
According to Jonathan he was demoted from Vice President to manager and placed on a Personal Improvement Plan and went from being an on-screen personality to running the company café.
“They were placing me in this position as a form of punishment for not agreeing to their demands of signing the NDA,” Lamb told the Dallas Morning News.
Daystar pointed out an NDA is an industry standard document they require all employees to sign. NDAs do not stop or interfere with any person reporting a crime to authorities.
Jonathan was then fired in November for not meeting the terms of his improvement plan, including “insubordination” and “failure to show leadership,” among other reasons cited in a statement Daystar sent to The Post.
In her statement, Joni added: “As a mother and grandmother, this situation saddens me deeply, and it grieves my heart, because I love my family. I love all of my children and grandchildren.
“I love the work we’ve done together for so many years. I had hoped we could have resolved this situation in private, but now he has given me no choice except to speak out.”
Both Jonathan and Suzy have made numerous allegations against Daystar on their social media channels since last week.
“The reason we’re going public is because we waited for a very long time for (Joni) to do the right thing. It was minimized and pushed away,” Suzy told The Post.
She also said she and her husband have troves of evidence to support their claims.
Daystar have said even after the alleged incidents took place, both Jonathan and Suzy continued to fraternize with and maintain a relationship with the person they accused of molesting their daughter.
The couple told Julie Roys they had been on one vacation where the person in question was present in 2022, but said they felt pressured by Joni to do so.
