In fact, maybe he realized that today, more than ever, we are primed for what he has to sell. One of the friends I'd cajoled into donating got a text message inviting her to an event in Washington, D.C. That's how I found myself, two days later, hustling into the Marriott Wardman Park for a 7 p.m. show. Two rings through his lower lip framed his broad smile. He's the founder of the Daystar Television Network, the second-largest Christian TV network on Earth. I still can't decide. Jason produced video segments interspersing the intercepted radio transmissions with Popoff's "miraculous" pronouncements. Popoff returned to his old ways, acquiring almost $4 million every year in the last part of the 1980s, as indicated by Randi. You have permission to edit this article. [27] Popoff's attorney, William Simon, "attributed the collapse of his ministry to financial mismanagement more than to disclosures about Popoff. Popoff is of the same generation as Bruce Springsteen, and he clearly shares the Boss's compulsion to never let an audience down. 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. He's the guy that eschewed material wealth and said it waseasier to thread a needle with a whole camel than it was for a rich dude to get into heaven.) 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. He found the church at a young age and started preaching as a teenager. His whole life was all about spreading the news. According to him, three women who had previously worked for him had threatened to go public with the information if they weren't paid $7.5 million. Peter George Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. "That's what he does best. Because it is categorized as a parsonage. These programs included offers of free "Miracle Manna" that allegedly provided health and financial miracles. You could see, there was no fakery to it. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. more. He was hugging people, punching the air with them. 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. Want to share an anonymous news tip? I looked like the real deal: a man in need of supernatural healing. When partners wouldn't donate so much money, they would cut back on staff, Sanchez said. Some were angry at Warnke for his deception, others were upset at the magazine for calling out a man who was bringing the word of God to the people. While religion can be a wonderful thing, providing community, solace and moral grounding, it is susceptible to human abuses. But he was also an enormous fraud who was ruined in scandal. 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." His message hasn't changed, The Washington Post noted in 1998, but the audience he is aiming for has.. Sanchez, who quit in early 2012, was one of two ex-employees who spoke with me. Then, next to the toilet paper, an 8-by-11 printout listing the family's goals for 2015Peter's, Liz's, Nick's, Amy's. This was a year ago, and the soft glow of cable TV was the room's only light. He may have once been branded a charlatan, but Popoff could probably see that we never stopped making space in our hearts for a guy like hima guy who knows what we want to believe. [17] On subsequent broadcasts, he tearfully begged for additional donations to help repair the damage. scare me more than the harbingers of hell in Free Speech Alley. Peter Popoff says hes a healer and a prophet of God. Prestigious debunker James Randi exposed the trick on national television, and Popoff was never heard from again. Peter Popoff was born on July 2, 1946 in Germany. [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." It appeared to me that Popoff was exploiting more than just American forgetfulness. [13], Popoff's methods were definitively exposed in 1986 by the magician and skeptic James Randi and his associate Steve Shaw, an illusionist known professionally as Banachek, with technical assistance from the crime scene analyst and electronics expert Alexander Jason. I signed up for his mailing list. This lady came in, and everyone said she was nuts, Sanchez told me. It's not something I snapped my fingers and it magically appeared. Take a few steps and make the Devil mad!, The woman stood up, with his help, started shaking her hands, and then, as the organ and drum picked up the tempo, started shaking her hands faster. Unfortunately for Swaggart, hell hath no fury like a minor television celebrity scorned, and Gorman had Swaggart followed and photographed during a rendezvous with a local prostitute. He had an answer for everything, or almost everything. Awkward. We go through Poland Spring.. Auditors come in every year. 82,499 views Jun 7, 2021 4.1K Dislike Share Save Dr. Todd Grande 1.1M subscribers This video 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.. I heard from a veteran Popoff-watcher that the best way to get to one of his shows was to give moneythen, if he was planning an event near where you lived, he'd send you a ticket. British telecommunications regulator Ofcom (UK Office of Communication) has fined a UK television network for airing the program of discredited TV Popoff was homeschooled after the eighth grade, so he could travel and preach with his father. He'd been operating his businesses as tax-free nonprofits, which the IRS called bull on pretty hard. He was poised for a comeback in 2009 when HBO produced a documentary on his return to the righteous path, but wouldn't you know it, more allegationsof the abusive variety popped up. The family had fled the Communists in 1950, eventually settling in Montclair, California. The flamboyant, seemingly pious preachers who solicited cash for enormous, if dubious, ministries were household names. And since Hell (probably) doesn't exist, the only winner here is Popoff. Its new address was just down the road, I discovered, in a strip mall. Popoff is better than he knows. Their lawyers and friends can tell them to shut up, but that makes them look guilty, and they don't feel guilty. You know, its OK to make money. He gets rich, you get hope. After all, in an age when a TV tycoon can win the White House, vowing to build walls and move markets with sheer chutzpah, there's opportunity for a clever fellow who knows that people running on pure faith fall easily in love with big promises. It's now worth 10 million! he said. I mentioned his $4.5 million house. Among his other supposed accomplishments: his doctorate in philosophy, his two bachelor's degrees, and the somewhere-between-two-and-five wounds he accumulated in Vietnam. [7][8][9], Popoff's father preached at revival meetings throughout the United States. But when I asked about the earpiece, Popoff was happy to talk. [47] In 2003, his ministry received over $9.6 million, and in 2005, over $23 million. 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. 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. His latest puckish misadventure: getting sued by the state of Missouri for selling a fake coronavirus cure. Why, I wondered, were so many people willing to trust a prophet of God who needed an earpiece, and why would they trust his advice on prosperity even after his own financial house had collapsed? Televangelism feels a lot like Game of Thrones once you read enough about it. Eventually Popoff admitted the existence of the radio device, but claimed that Elizabeth only "occasionally" gave him "the name of a person who needs special prayers". Various sources indicate Popoff was born in East Berlin or West Berlin. Squinting through a window, past venetian blinds, I glimpsed a carpeted foyer, and beyond that, an empty room. He touches them and they feel better. He lives in a rather large estate on the shores of Eagle Mountain lake just north of Fort Worth, and somehow his 60+ acre estate of improved lakefront property with a private runway and fully But none were humiliated quite as publicly as Popoff. 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. The episode was released on video as part of a lesson in critical thinking. ", James Randi exposes Uri Geller and Peter Popoff, Skeptics with a K Episode 157 (A special episode covering Marshal Masters visit to Popov's London gathering), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Popoff&oldid=1129525069, Religious controversies in the United States, Articles with incomplete citations from November 2012, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021, Pages using Sister project links with default search, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 December 2022, at 22:14. You know how it is. It went back to the pits of hell!. Popoff would tell attendees suffering from a variety of illnesses to "break free of the devil" by throwing their prescription pills onto the stage. 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. It was a shame how many shred bins were full to the rim with prayer requests awaiting to be destroyed and never seen again, Sanchez wrote. God decides what prayers to answer. How old is Peter Popoff? [16] When skeptics asked him to prove that the money he had collected had in fact been spent on Bibles and balloons, Popoff staged a burglary at his own headquarters. I was flitting between channels when I happened upon BET. 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. He referred to the attacks as "what we deserve." [11], Popoff married his wife Elizabeth in August 1971[12] and the couple settled in Upland, California. And yet, they did. 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). He didn't recognize me from the time he healed my finger in Washington (not that I expected he would). He moves slowly, but not fraillymore like a muscular man managing his own physique. The earpiece, I realized, was always an unnecessary gimmick. Things get creepier the more you read about the Alamos. One became president, the other just became rich. They would stand and walk without assistance, to the joyous cheers of the faithful. I'm watching you." [19] In 1986, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry charged that Popoff was using electronic transmissions to receive his information; Popoff denied it, insisting that the messages were divinely revealed. Oh, also, he stole his wife's body from the compound after it was shut down. How is Peter Popoff not in jail or arrested? Ted Haggard was the Chiclet-toothed face of evangelism for three years as the president of the National Association of Evangelicals. In a roundabout way, it was true. Once, Peter Popoff was a giant among '80s televangelists, wealthy until being ruined in scandal. [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. He has also a nick name and it is Peter Popoff. Peter George Popoff (born July 2, 1946) is a German-born American televangelist and debunked clairvoyant and faith healer. 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. It felt good, as hugs do. This septuagenarian clocks the hours of a junior lawyer trying to make partner. He lost. AMC is broadcasting a Peter Popoff "service" (scam session) as I type. Well, Jesse Duplantis feels your pain. [14], Researcher and bioethics expert Fred M. Frohock cited Popoff as "one of many egregious instances of fake healing. You just got a dog? "Flim flam is his profession," Randi explained to reporter Matt Meaghan. The lights of his camera crew were blinding, but here he was, choosing me. And he has risen again to make millions leading the People United for You know where that pain went? Popoff cried after one healing. Was any of it true? Peter Popoff is not the only Televangelist out there scamming people. 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. Angley haspreviously been accused of operating a cult where followers are taught that enough prayer can heal HIV and "childless men are encouraged to have vasectomies and Angley who preaches vehemently against the 'sin' of homosexuality is himself a gay man who personally examines the genitals of the male parishioners before and after their surgeries.". [22], Popoff was also the inspiration for a character in the 2012 thriller film Red Lights, a psychic who uses information fed to him via a hidden earpiece to persuade the audience at his shows that he is receiving personal details psychically. There I saw an old white man preaching to an audience of elderly black people. And getting off crutches, that was big, toothis is why people needed Popoff's healing touch. Popoff, he said, sends his own pre-blessed water, in a 16-ounce bottle, to add to all the jugs of Poland Spring. 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. I had found Sanchez after reading The Real Truth Behind People United for Christ, the e-book detailing her time there that she self-published in 2013. Once or twice a month he comes. 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. In reality, he said, the expos on The Tonight Show barely hurt his finances. For a real thriller, look no further than the flagrant manipulation of religion occurring in our own state. I've been working for 50 years, Popoff told me. But here's the thing about Peter and Liz Popoff and their kids: They could have all their ski trips and Bentleys and Clydesdale horses without ever working another day in their lives. And the hair truly is something, shiny and monochrome like an action figure's. The government started taking action in the early '90s, and Tony found himself on the wrong side of the law. 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. When times were good, they would ramp up. Got a question? After graduating from college, Popoff married his wife, Liz, and they embarked on an itinerant life, preaching the Pentecostal gospel across the country. The resulting backlash was split. Danny Davis, master of the secret mullet you know, the kind that cant be seen head-on peddles No Evil Oil and Favor Prayer Cloths. Peter Popoff, who disappeared briefly after being exposed as a fraud, asks you to buy his DVD Prosperity Thinking: Gods Dynamic Forces That Bring Riches to You! and gives free miracle spring water. The water rids you of disease and poverty, but only after sprinkling the enclosed sacred Dead Sea Salt on a $27 check addressed to Popoff. They did not want to comment on Crystal Sanchez's allegations in her e-book. 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. GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Life was a hoot and a holler for Haggard. I'm the one who pours the blessed water into the drums, said the man with the lip rings. Hallelujah! I find it difficult to believe all of Duplantis followers are under a spell, though. The accusations are numerous and diverse. 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. Critics later documented that the recipients of these dramatic "cures" were fully ambulatory people who had been seated in wheelchairs by Popoff's assistants prior to broadcasts. Duplantis argued that it was the love of money, not money itself, thats bad. The family business is theirs to inherit, and both told me that they have the gift and could take over someday. Peter Popoffs net worth is estimated to be in excess of $12 million as of 2023. [31] Various other media outlets have run similar stories. They wouldn't tell me what they earn, but Nick enjoyed telling me about the Clydesdale horses he keeps. Duplantis disagrees. His wife eyed me warily. Falwell certainly had the resume to back up the job. Some of the ladies had walkers or wheelchairs, some were healthy enough to dance in the aisles to the gospel music playing over loudspeakers. And I venture to say anyone doing TV programs He trailed off, as if he were saying something so obvious it didn't bear finishing. Wayfair Huge Deal-A-Thon - Up to 60% off everything! She had come to talk to Peter. Popoff didn't come out to meet her; nor did any of his employees. In the late 1980s he was exposed as a fraud on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. (Turned out, an There's no way of knowing if this actually happened, but it just feels right to imagine that Jim Bakker responded by saying, "Hold my miracle cure.". 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". Peter Popoff was one of the bolder frauds in televangelist history. "[46], Popoff was collecting almost $4 million per year in the late 1980s, according to Randi. I took a bathroom break in Popoff's private lavatory, right off his office. Based on him birthplace, He is German. Three years later, revenues for Popoff's ministry were just over $35 million. His organization, People United for Christ, keeps its headquarters in a suite of white buildings in an industrial section of Upland, California, an hour's drive inland from Los Angeles. 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 You've been to Europe? Arthritis, they said. Do you know how old is Peter Popoff? What followed was a House of Cards-worthy circle of blackmail that saw Gorman reinstated and Swaggart taken off the air for a spell.
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