Televangelist Kenneth Copeland has appeared in a bizarre interview where he defends using three private jets to travel the world after previously claiming he didn't want to fly commercial with 'demons'.
The 82-year-old's chat with Inside Edition features him angrily pointing and staring the interviewer in one of the instances where he flares up after being confronted about his lavish lifestyle.
But at other moments Copeland has a cheerful demeanor and deflects questions by complimenting her on her eyes, praying for her, and even kissing her hand.
Lisa Guerrero caught up with Copeland – estimated to be worth $760million in October 2018 – after he last year purchased a $3million Gulfstream V private jet from producer and actor Tyler Perry.
Kenneth Copeland defends using three private jets in an Inside Edition interview after in 2016 he called flying commercial getting in 'a long tube with demons'
Last year purchased a $3million Gulfstream V private jet bringing his total to five
Copeland, 82, says he wasn't talking about the people on planes when he mentioned demons
When she addresses how on his Believer's Voice of Victory TV show in 2016 Copeland called flying commercial to be similar to getting in 'a long tube with a bunch of demons', he turns angry.
She asks: 'Do you really believe that human beings are demons'.
In response, Copeland points and snaps back: 'No I did not and don't you ever say I did.'
He then grits his teeth as he explains how watching marshals drag a passenger off a plane – seemingly referring to an April 2017 United incident – made him so mad.
Using it as an example for why he take the plusher option, he asked: 'Do you think that's a good environment for a preacher to be?'
Copeland says it riled him up so much: 'I wanted to go punch that guy myself. I can't be doing that when I'm getting ready to preach!'
'I could no longer do what I was called to do when I get on the airlines and besides that I need my clothes when I get there.'
In the bizarre chat he angrily watching someone get dragged off a plane was an example of how flying commercial was not a good environment for a preacher
At one point the preacher kisses interviewer Lisa Guerrero's hand as he thanks her for allowing his face to be on the show
He also prays for Guerrero and her two grandfathers who she said as ministers themselves didn't believe in preachers being wealthy
The Kenneth Copeland Ministries owner admits he has other small planes but he mainly uses the Gulfstream and two Citations.
Copeland claims it's not just himself who benefits from having the planes as other ministries use them.
He jets back and forth to help the needy and parks up on a private hangar at his property.
Ministers can live in a home worth up to $6.3million tax free. His lake—front mansion in Newark, Texas is worth $6million.
But he came under fire in 2010 after promising to use them to help with relief effort in Haiti for earthquake victims but not following through.
The minister has also allegedly used the planes to go on vacations.
Copeland admits in the video that he's a very wealthy man.
Pictured with his wife Gloria, he told Inside Edition that he and his spouse loved the show and he was thrilled to have his face on screen
Tyler Perry previously owned the jet that now provides Copeland with a calm environment
The author, public speaker and musician adds wide-eyed: 'My wealth does not come from offering alone. I have a lot of natural gas on my properties. You didn't know that did you baby? Isn't that wonderful?'
However he claims last year 'we invested something in the neighborhood of $25million'.
'You can't do that when you're broke,' he smiles in the clip from May.
Copeland then takes his defense one step further by referring to Judaism. The Christian minister asks: 'Do you think the Jewish people believe you should be broke? They believe in wealth.'
But when Guerrero tells him 'some people might think that is offensive,' Copeland tells her: 'I'm not talking about 'some people' I'm talking about the Bible.'
Speaking about passages in the Old Testament regarding the wealth of Abraham, he says he 'gets excited talk about it because I love it'.
He explains that he started out 'deep in debt' and he learned from his spiritual mentor Oral Roberts – who passed away in 2009 – who he says took the same heat as he's currently dealing with.
The Kenneth Copeland Ministries owner admits he has other small planes but he mainly uses the Gulfstream and two Citations
He defended hanging onto his estimated $760M wealth because he invested $25M in 2018
But he seems to deflect when the presenter quotes the scripture that 'it's more difficult for a rich man to get into heaven than it is for a camel to get through the eye of a needle'.
Copeland responds the Bible says that 'all things are possible'.
She tries again the get the message through by saying her own grandfathers were preachers and did not agree with others doing the work of god while living with so much wealth.
But he simply says: 'The Bible is full of wealth, miracles, goodness and badness.'
He adds a disclaimer again, clarifying: 'Those are the demons. Not the people. I love the people.'
Before closing the chat he's gushes about he and his wife Gloria's love for Inside Edition and parts with a prayer for the host before kissing her hand.
'It thrills me to get the chance to have my face on Inside Edition,' he excitedly jumps. 'I love you, girl.'
Minister Copeland's lake—front mansion in Newark, Texas is worth a whopping $6million
Ministers can live in a home worth up to $6.3million and Copeland's just steers clear of that
James Michael HaymakerA judge has "corrected" a sentence so that it will allow a 67-year-old Villager accused of sexually assaulting a teen visiting his home to have supervised contact with family members who are minors.
James Michael Haymaker had been arrested in 2017 on two counts of sexual assault.
Last month he was sentenced to five years probation on reduced charges of child abuse without great bodily harm. However, after the sentencing, Haymaker's attorney, Jay Rooth, discovered that the clerk's office did not include all of the sentence details in the court's disposition paperwork.
Specifically, the clerk left out that Haymaker "is permitted to have contact with familial minors if the contact is supervised by the minor's legal guardian at all times."
Judge William Hallman III granted Rooth's motion to correct the record to allow the contact.
Other terms of the plea agreement require Haymaker to have no contact with minors, no contact with the victim and he was ordered to write a letter to the victim "apologizing for the effect this has had on the family." He was also ordered to complete a psychosexual evaluation. The lesser charge means Haymaker does not have to register as a sex offender.
Haymaker was accused of having sex with the teen who had been staying at his home at 3571 Amish Path, not far from the Manatee Recreation Center. Haymaker allegedly told the 16-year-old she could bring her boyfriend with her to The Villages the next summer if she allowed Haymaker to have sex with her. She laid down on the bed and Haymaker used KY Jelly to prepare the girl for sex, according to the arrest report. He ejaculated inside her "by accident," the report said.
The alleged abuse took place at James Haymaker's home on Amish Path.The girl alleged that the abuse began when she was seven years old.
The victim, whose exact relationship to Haymaker has been redacted from arrest reports and court records, said that over the years the sexual abuse would stop for a while and then start again.
She described an incident in which she woke up naked in Haymaker's bed. He admitted that he took her from her bed, undressed her and put her in his bed, according to a document on file in court. She also claimed that when she was 14 or 15, Haymaker tried to persuade her to perform oral sex on him, but when she gagged, he pulled down her bottom garments and performed oral sex on her, according to the document.
