Evangelist Juanita Bynum
beat down by her husband!
Well
known Evangelist Juanita Bynum , whose fiery
and frank sermons about women's empowerment have won her a
national platform. Shortly after returning from her Women
On The Frontline Conference in Orlando, Florida
she found herself in a serious battle with her husband. According
to reports Bishop Weeks savagely beat her
down in a hotel parking lot early Wednesday morning.
A relative of Prophetess Juanita Bynum told
Fox 5 news that she and her husband, Bishop Thomas
Weeks are in the middle of a separation. The
relative said the two agreed to meet Tuesday night in the dining
room of the Renaissance Concourse Hotel near Hartsfield-Jackson
airport. According to the police report the statements
were given by Tina Trice Culpepper, who is actually a very
close friend of the evangelist.
The meeting reportedly did not go well and ended with Bishop Weeks leaving
abruptly. Culpepper said Bynum followed
him to the parking lot where the two exchanged words.
During a talk with Tina Culpepper she informed me of the facts
versus the fiction about the Bynum vs. Weeks battle
royal and here is the account: Juanita
Bynum and her husband, Bishop Thomas Weeks had
been separated for three months and the couple met to talk
over dinner about their marriage. Money has become a
major issue for Weeks since Juanita ;
the bread winner of the family has been persona non gratta
and not attending the services at Global Destiny. "The
attendance has been down and people have not been giving like
they were," said Tina Culpepper. At some point in the
conversation Juanita said something that
caused Weeks to become very upset and abruptly
leave the hotel. Seems Weeks had officially
walked out on his nationally known televangelist wife, Juanita
Bynum .
Juanita
Bynum followed him out to ask him if it was over
and were they going to get a divorce. That was the
final straw for Bishop Weeks and he attacked Bynum . Weeks wrapped
his hands around her throat and began to squeeze the life
out of his wife. While shaking and violently choking Juanita he
then threw her to the ground like a piece of meat and proceeded
to kick her in the abdomen. As if his kicking was
not enough, Weeks raised his foot and started
stomping her in the back. The six foot almost 200
pound preacher was attempting to do some serious damage
as he plowed his foot into her Bynum tried
to crawl away from the out of control attacker, her husband, Bishop
Thomas Wesley Weeks . Juanita was
Unsuccessful and weak in the attempt to escape Weeks ,
who kicked her six or seven times in her vaginal area. Not
to mention he was calling her everything, but a child of
God while he gave his wife a pimp like whipping. You
got it right; Bishop Weeks did not speak
in unknown tongues while he jumped his wife.
In one of my many talks with Tina Culpepper about the Ike
Turner type of whipping Weeks gave Juanita she
said it was due to the vaginal bleeding that caused them
to go to hospital without waiting on police to arrive. John,
the bellmen got Weeks off of Juanita . Less
than a mile away at a near by restaurant eating Tina got
the call and quickly headed to the hotel to see about Bynum . Bishop
Weeks wrecked his Range Rover as he tried to quickly
leave the Renaissance Hotel parking lot.
According to an Atlanta Police Department report, Weeks allegedly
attacked her in the parking lot as he attempted to leave the
hotel. In a statement to the police, Evangelist Bynum said
her husband, Thomas Weeks , "choked her pushed
her down, kicked her and stomped her in the Renaissance parking
lot."
Ronald Campbell of the APD said a bellhop at the hotel saw
the attack, intervened and stopped it. According to
reports the bellman allegedly passed a few licks with the out
of control Bishop Weeks when he assisted Evangelist
Bynum . However, Tina Culpepper did not confirm
that a fight occurred with John and Bishop Weeks .
Police were notified by a staff member at Piedmont Hospital,
where Bynum was taken for a checkup. In
cases of domestic violence it is the obligation of the hospital
to notify the police.
Attempting to get to the bottom of the matter I went by the
church where a private meeting was held and closed to the public
and media. A Pastor Ron told the 300 plus attendees
to pray for Bishop Weeks and Mother
Bynum and not talk to any strangers or members of
the press. Global Destiny members marched out of the
church, which is housed in an office park in a suburb of Atlanta,
as if they had left a funeral. Quickly and quietly the
members went to their cars and seemed to have mirrored members
of a cult rather than a church.
Two ladies were open and willing to talk to me about Bishop Weeks attacking
his wife. "He should fight a man like that. We
have known of things going on for sometime now, but we thought
they would get better." Said Gayle Gibbs, who has been a member
of Global Destiny for three years and was very upset about
the actions of Bishop Weeks ,
a gentleman tried to keep her from talking to the media, but
gave up after she gave him a good tongue lashing. Another
woman holding her grandchild joined the discussion.
According to the three ladies that I talked to after the meeting
at Global Destiny, Mother Bynum, as
they were told to call her had been removed from all her duties
at the church and was instructed to sit and be quite for at
least a year due to her having done something that really upset Bishop Weeks . In
addition, last week a moving truck was at the church and all
of Mother Bynum's belongs were packed and
removed from the church.
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Attorney
John Garland (from left), Bishop Thomas Weeks III and
Sgt. E.C. Davis stand before Fulton judge Michael Wallace
on Friday. The bond for Weeks, who is charged with assaulting
his wife, was set at $30,000 on a charge of aggravated
assault and $10,000 on a charge of terroristic threats.
John Spink / AJC |
Bishop Weeks and his congregation
attended Evangelist Bynum's conference
in Orlando, Florida. The overly aggressive men guarding
the doors and attempting to prevent members from speaking to
the media had the spirit of their Pastor and Bishop, but quickly
backed down.
The attendance of Bishop Weeks at the conference
was confirmed by Tina Culpepper, but she did make it clear
that he just appeared and he was not invited by Juanita . Culpepper
went on to share that Juanita had been removed
of all her duties at the church, but Bishop Weeks was
beginning to back out of that due to offering dropping rapidly. Bynum ,
48 years-old, has filled charges against Weeks . She
was doing well as could be expected when she released the following
statement:
" I
am currently recovering from all of my injuries and resting
well. There are so many great things happening for me
in my future, and so much to look forward to concerning my
destiny, this too shall pass. The bible says in Proverbs
4:25, Let you eyes look right on with fixed purpose and let
your gaze be straight before you."
A number of rumors are floating around about the couple's
sexuality and extra marital affairs. According to Tina
Culpepper, neither Juanita Bynum nor Bishop
Thomas Weeks have been unfaithful to each other during
their five year marriage. Additionally, she shared with
me that Juanita Bynum is not a lesbian nor
is Bishop Weeks a homosexual and that it
was some website that was making these crazy accusations.
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Thomas Weeks' booking mug. |
I was told that Bishop Weeks had never been
abusive to his wife verbally or physically in the past and
that is why everyone is in shock. It is very hard to
believe this was the first time due to Weeks attacking
her in public. "Typically in cases of domestic violence
such a vicious attack is not the first, but there are instances
when a suspect just snaps," said Brenda Muhammad, Executive
Director of Atlanta Victim Assistance Program. Muhammad
went on to say that it is obvious that Bynum did
not trust her husband due to the estranged couple not meeting
in her hotel room, but in the lobby or restaurant and in the
parking lot. " Juanita Bynum could
have been seriously hurt or killed if she had not met with
him in public," Brenda Muhammad added. "I would like
to reach out to her and offer my agency's services to the victim,
restraining orders and a warrant must be filed and counseling
offered to the victim so shame will not be an outcome," Muhammad
explained. Brenda Muhammad went to add that domestic
violence is very common in the personal lives of very successful
and powerful women that offer so much to others, but allow
themselves to suffer.
Juanita
Bynum a popular Pentecostal evangelist, lives in
Hempstead, N.Y., but her administrative offices are in Waycross,
where she also has a home. She is open about her past,
freely talking about sex and being on welfare, hospitalized
with a mental breakdown, divorced, and spiritually broken.
Once a homemaker, a hairdresser, and a flight attendant, Bynum's big
break came when Bishop T.D. Jakes invited
her to speak at one of his conferences several years ago-Her
ministry took off a couple years following when she gave her
famous sermon " No More Sheets " speaking
extremely candidly about her sexual promiscuity.
Since then, she has parlayed her tough-love style of evangelism
into a major industry, writing several best-selling books,
recording inspirational CDs and her television ministry. Bynum has
gone through an extreme metamorphosis; moving from her short
hair and no make up to a very well painted, long weave, false
eye lash very exotic look that is not often one of a preacher. The Juanita Bynum today
does not mind showing her curvy body, but at one time she wore
nothing but long oversized garments. She recently appeared
on " Meet The Faith ," a talk show
on BET, where she admitted to having plastic surgery.
Her 2002 wedding to Weeks , who started Global
Destiny churches nationwide, was televised and featured a gown
with a bodice covered in crystals and a 7.76 carat diamond
ring. Ebony Magazine also
featured the wedding in an article on women in ministry finding
love. Prophetess Bynum ,
which often boasts about her gift of hearing from God, was
not shown the major beat down she would receive by her husband. This
matter was addressed in my conversation with Tina, who explained
that the gifts are often for others and not the individual
that possesses it. Bynum at one time
testified of her love for her husband and their great sex life,
while attempting to teach marital seminars, which were nothing
more than money making business ventures. The two of
them have been lying for sometime now about their tumultuous
marriage. They both are guilty of covering the
ugly truth. According to Tina, Juanita was
attempting to protect her husband's name and ministry.
Bishop Thomas Weeks turned
himself in this morning with his attorney to the Fulton County
Jail. In a sharp three piece suit and bow tie Thomas
Weeks looked as if he was ashamed while entering the
jail to face two counts of felony charges. The judge
set Weeks bail at $40,000 and ordered him
to turn in his passport and to stay away from Juanita Bynum
and Tina Culpepper. Several calls have been made to Bishop
Weeks in attempt to get his account of the story,
but have not been returned by my deadline. He has been
inside the jail for over four hours and did not speak to the
media on his way into the jail and his attorney informed us
he would not speak when he leaves. However, the attorney
did tell me that he is very sad about the situation and concerned
about his marriage. Evangelist Bynum is
being kept in an undisclosed location.
Rumors are flying around the country about Bishop
Weeks having attacked Juanita Bynum before
at a Hyatt or Hilton and that Weeks put Juanita out
of his car on the highway Maybach, but no one knows except
for these two what actually was happening in their marriage
and on that evening that Weeks attacked
his wife. However, the cat is out the bag now and only
time will tell how all this plays out. We can be clear
that Juanita Bynum is going to make a hunk
and a chunk as a result of this beat down and might even
finally get to sit on Oprah’s couch
and tell her story. (Read
if for yourself in the police report click here!) |