Famous televangelist and convicted felon Jim Bakker's funeral was held this week. His son, Jay Bakker, skipped it.
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The 86-year-old televangelist passed away on Oct. 5 after spending his last days in hospice care in Branson, Missouri, according to TMZ. Bakker spent decades preaching on TV. He was the first host of Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, then launched his own show alongside his first wife, Tammy Faye , The PTL Club (Praise the Lord) which ran from 1974 to 1987, lauching a network and theme park.
Despite his success as a televangelist, Jim Bakker is perhaps more infamous for a long list of scandals. These included everything from the alleged sexual assault of church secretary Jessica Hahn (this reportedly also involved offering her $279,000 in hush money) and federal mail and wire fraud indictments (he managed to serve only 5 years of a 45-year sentence), to more recently, shelling out $156,000 after his Morningside Church Productions sold a colloidal silver supplement they allegedly claimed cured COVID-19.
Jay Bakker Opens Up About His "Very Complicated Relationship" with His Televangelist Father
Now, Jay Bakker is opening up about his "very complicated relationship," with his late father.
"Very gray today; you might say I'm looking quite tired, but you know, my dad passed away, and we had a very complicated relationship," Jay began in the Oct.12 Instagram video, per PEOPLE. "A few weeks ago...I was able to come out and see my pops, see Dad, and we were able to have some great conversations."
Jay, himself the founder of the Revolution Church in Phoenix, then offered an explanation on why he didn't attend his father's funeral service.
"I was able to say goodbye, and I mean that's why I'm not there today because I feel like I got to say goodbye to him in person, and that's, you know, kind of the way I hope it would happen, and it did."
Jay, whose mother is Tammy Faye Messner (who passed away from cancer in 2007 after divorcing Jim Bakker in 1992), then went on to thank supporters in the caption to his post.
"Those of you who have stood up for me and my family during this tough time by encouraging others to allow us to process this loss have been priceless," he wrote. "It's a very difficult perspective for some to grasp and I understand the struggle to sympathize much less give a damn."
Notably, Jay turned off the comments section on the post.
Jim Bakker's cause of death has not been revealed. He was 86.
