With the help of his high-profile attorney, Dustin Pusch, founder of The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, Bishop T.D. Jakes insisted Tuesday that former-pastor-turned-registered sex offender Duane Youngblood fabricated a claim that Jakes sexually assaulted him when he was a teenager some 40 years ago.
Pusch wrote in a 483-page filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania that Youngblood’s motion to dismiss Jakes’ defamation lawsuit should be denied for “many reasons,” including what he calls “counterfeit caselaw.”
“First among them: most of the authority cited in his brief is made up,” the filing reads. “In support of the Motion, Youngblood fabricates quotes from at least eight cases, as well as many other holdings.”
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Jakes, 67, who founded The Potter’s House nearly 30 years ago and now serves as chairman of the T.D. Jakes Foundation, initially filed the defamation lawsuit against Youngblood, 58, last November, a day after suffering a heart attack while preaching.
Youngblood’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, has sought to dismiss the lawsuit. He most recently sought to dismiss Jakes’ lawsuit pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6), which allows a defendant to move to dismiss a complaint if it doesn’t allege enough facts to support a plausible legal claim.
In a response to that motion, Pusch, who helped to win a $787.5 million defamation settlement for Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News in 2023, suggested Youngblood’s motion to dismiss could be the “product of a fever dream” or artificial intelligence.
“In reality, the Complaint more than adequately pleads each and every necessary element for his defamation and conspiracy claims. It is unclear whether the Motion to Dismiss is the product of a fever dream, generated through improper use of AI software, or some combination of the two,” Pusch wrote. “Regardless, Youngblood’s Motion is without legal or factual merit, his perversions of cited case law and the record in this case must be ignored and accounted for, and the Motion should be denied so that Bishop Jakes can proceed with proving his case and vindicating his name.”
Defamation lawsuits filed by celebrities are becoming more common, but they are especially hard to win because the plaintiff must prove that the defendant acted with malice.
“Malice means that [the defendant] knew the statements were untruthful, or acted in reckless disregard for the truth, so it’s a higher standard,” Neama Rahmani, the president and co-founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Business Insider in March. “It’s not easy to prove malice.”
Youngblood argued the same in his latest filing to dismiss Jakes’s lawsuit.
“The severe constitutional limitations placed on public figure defamation suits — particularly the requirement of actual malice proven by clear and convincing evidence — exist to prevent litigation from chilling public discourse. … These limits, combined with Plaintiff’s failure to state a prima facie claim under § 8343(a), compel dismissal here,” Blackburn wrote.
“Moreover, the court independently noted the deficiencies raised in this Rule 12(b)(6) motion in its April 25, 2025, Memorandum Opinion. The court observed the complaint’s failure to allege specific defamatory statements, overuse of conclusory assertions, and lack of factual content supporting falsity and malice,” he added.
Youngblood claimed in interviews with internet personality Larry Reid on his “Larry Reid Live” show on Oct. 28 and Nov. 3, 2024, that Jakes assaulted him when he was about 18 or 19 years old. Jakes claims Youngblood engaged in “libel per se” and a civil conspiracy to commit defamatory acts.
“The underlying story in this case depicts a carefully planned effort by a convicted criminal, and those acting in concert with him, to rewrite history in order to deflect blame and accountability for his own reprehensible and criminal conduct and to publicly smear a renowned and eminently respected religious leader in a blatant and explicit attempt to extort him for millions of dollars,” lawyers for Jakes wrote in his 20-page lawsuit in which they detailed Youngblood’s history of abusing minors since at least 2002.
In his earlier 167-page motion to dismiss Jakes’ defamation lawsuit filed in January, Youngblood included multiple affidavits supporting his sexual assault claim against Jakes, including one from his older brother, Pastor Richard Edwin Youngblood, who alleges that Jakes attempted to sexually assault him, too.
Jakes’ response to Youngblood’s motion to dismiss his defamation lawsuit alleges that the former pastor was aware of his alleged lies when he made them to Larry Reid.
“Key contradictions in the story also show that the tale is fabricated. On LRL, Youngblood stated he was 18 or 19 for his story, but in his subsequent letter from counsel demanding money, Youngblood changed the story to make himself a minor — stating he was just 17,” Pusch wrote in the filing.
“This type of contradiction suggests either an intentional lie or at least a reckless disregard for the truth. … Given Youngblood’s substantial motive to make up stories about Jakes and his total fabrication of the events described, Plaintiff can readily shoulder his burden to allege actual malice.”
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