Televangelist E. Bernard Jordan files lawsuit against YouTubers

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, February 25, 2026

A Manhattan federal judge has ordered that a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $80 million in damages filed by televangelist E. Bernard Jordan against two pastors, popular media personality Larry Reid and several YouTubers alleging they used illicit telephone recordings to make defamatory comments about him be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

District Judge Margaret M. Garnett ordered that the case be transferred last Friday because the alleged defamatory comments were not made against Jordan in New York. The illicit recordings of the telephone conversations at issue in the lawsuit were made while Jordan was in New Jersey.

“None of the Defendants’ acts or omissions occurred within the Southern District of New York. No one who participated in the first or second phone call was in the State of New York during the calls. Defendants are alleged to have recorded the calls while outside the State of New York. And no Defendant made defamatory comments about Plaintiff in the State of New York,” Garnett states in her Feb. 20 order.

Neither Jordan, who resides in New York and is the founder of Zoe Ministries in Manhattan, nor his attorney, Andrew T. Miltenberg of Nesenoff & Miltenberg, LLP, responded to The Christian Post’s requests for comment on Tuesday.

In his lawsuit, first filed in the Southern District of New York on Feb. 10, Jordan alleges he suffered significant financial and psychological harm, including a 60% reduction in the membership of his church, which focuses on the prophetic and embraces the prosperity gospel.

In addition to Reid, who operates the “Larry Reid Live” show based in Georgia, Jordan’s lawsuit lists as defendants Justin D. Edwards, senior pastor of the Holy Cross Baptist Church South in Chicago, Illinois; Texas pastor Calvin Blake, Sr.; Davyon Augustus, who runs a YouTube channel called “Consciouz TV” in South Carolina; Marcellus McMillian, who runs the “Mad Church Disease” YouTube channel in California; Tyesse Jackson, who operates the YouTube channel “The Tyesse Report” in Georgia; James Singletary, a show guest; Kendall Peacock; Chamaco Bryant; and 10 John and Jane Does who are yet to be identified.

Jordan accuses Reid, Edwards and Blake of violating the Federal Wiretap Act and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. He also accuses Reid, Edwards, and the YouTubers of defamation per se.

The lawsuit also alleges civil conspiracy charges against Reid, Edwards and Blake, along with an intentional infliction of emotional distress charge against all defendants for pushing a narrative that questioned his sexuality, accused him of sexual abuse, grooming and targeting young boys.

“Defendants Larry Reid, Pastor Justin Edwards, and Calvin Blake engaged in the deliberate nonconsensual disclosure, commercialization, and amplification of Plaintiff’s private sexual information across multiple digital platforms, including behind paywalls, for financial gain and notoriety. This coordinated conduct caused profound reputational destruction, severe emotional distress, and significant harm to Archbishop Jordan’s ministry and professional relationships,” the lawsuit states.

“The misconduct at issue includes, but is not limited to, the unauthorized recording and public disclosure of private facts, defamation per se, civil conspiracy, and revenge-porn adjacent activity, all carried out with knowledge of Plaintiff’s identity, standing, and vulnerability to reputational injury,” it continues. “Plaintiff’s professional and pastoral life depends upon integrity, confidentiality, and the sanctity of pastoral communications and mentorship relationships. Defendants’ conduct directly undermined these core principles, inflicting lasting harm that cannot be remedied absent judicial intervention.”

The complaint seeks at least $10 million on each of eight claims — a total demand exceeding $80 million, plus fees and interest — though courts typically do not permit duplicative recovery for the same injury.

A “close personal relationship” between Edwards, who was installed as pastor of Holy Cross Baptist Church South some three years ago, and Jordan is presented as a key driver of the events that led up to the illicit telephone recordings.

“Plaintiff and Defendant Edwards had a close personal relationship; however, it did not involve coercion, compensation, or any exchange of value. When it became apparent that Edwards’ motivations were financial and inconsistent with Plaintiff’s values and boundaries, Plaintiff ceased communication,” the lawsuit states.

“At no time did Plaintiff compensate Edwards for intimacy or engage in prostitution, solicitation, or any form of transactional sexual conduct. Any financial assistance Plaintiff provided was charitable and pastoral in nature. Edwards gained access to Plaintiff through positions of trust and proximity created by Plaintiff’s ministerial role,” it adds.

Jordan admits to providing limited financial assistance to Edwards and his spouse, including “covering a vehicle payment when they lacked reliable transportation necessary for ministry work.” He “also retained and paid for legal counsel for Edwards’ son when he became involved in a legal matter.”

“These actions were undertaken philanthropically and as an extension of pastoral care. After Edwards revealed his true intentions, Plaintiff discontinued and terminated all such assistance,” the lawsuit states.

Jordan alleges that after he ended his relationship with Edwards, the Chicago pastor conspired with Reid, Blake and others to retaliate against him.

“Defendants’ subsequent actions included the secret recording of private communications, the dissemination of those recordings, and the publication of distorted or false narratives concerning Plaintiff’s private life,” the lawsuit states.

Edwards did not immediately respond to CP when reached for comment Tuesday, but Reid, who once called Jordan his mentor for years until November 2024, said he was disappointed in the lawsuit.

“It is deeply disappointing that someone I once respected as a mentor has chosen to pursue litigation instead of handling disagreements privately and honorably. I stand firmly and confidently on the truth. The federal court in New York has already ruled that venue there was improper and transferred the case to New Jersey. That procedural decision speaks for itself,” Reid told CP.

“Let me be clear: I have never recorded a phone call that I was not an active participant in. In the call referenced in the complaint, I was physically located in Atlanta, Georgia, and the other parties were in New Jersey and Texas — all one-party consent states,” he added. “I did not orchestrate or intercept a call I was not part of. The audio in question has never been publicly played. My comments have been limited to accurately describing what was said during a conversation in which I was a participant. I have nothing to hide, and I welcome the legal process. I am confident the facts will ultimately prevail.”

Blake referred CP to a public statement he made on Facebook on Monday, in which he challenged Jordan’s conspiracy allegation, stating that he only knows one of the other defendants in the lawsuit.

“Whether there’s a recording or not, all I’m gonna say is what the Scripture says … from Proverbs 28:1, where it says, ‘the wicked flee where no man pursues him,” he said. “Guilty people run when there’s nobody after them.

“I want to be served those papers because you really would have to be insane. You are insane for filing a lawsuit. You really are,” he added in comments directed at Jordan. “I think your cheese has slid off your cracker, and I’m praying you see this. Your cheese has slid off your cracker.”