Two ministries that broadcast TV shows on Daystar Television Network have announced they are parting ways with the Bedford-based company, which has been rocked by a family rift over child abuse allegations.
LoveIsrael, a Bible teaching ministry led by Baruch Korman, announced in a YouTube video Tuesday that the organization is taking its shows off Daystar’s network. And Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, an author and former co-host of The 700 Club Canada, announced last month that she was removing her show, Laura-Lynn Live at the Eagle’s Nest, from Daystar.
Daystar did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the departures of LoveIsrael and Thompson.
“I could no longer be a part of it [the network],” Thompson told The Dallas Morning News in a Dec. 18 interview. She said her show had been airing on Daystar for about six weeks before she terminated the relationship.
“When I saw Joni Lamb make a brief statement… and talking about performance reviews and that he [Lamb’s son] has engaged in a smear campaign, my heart as a mother sank,” Thompson said.
Korman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the video, Korman said his organization has had a relationship with Daystar for about 10 years, and would be severing its relationship with the network “as soon as possible.”
LoveIsrael says on its website that its weekly TV program is broadcast in about 190 countries, including on Daystar’s network.
Daystar broadcasts a slate of around-the-clock programming to over 100 TV stations across the country, and its programming includes shows hosted by some of the most influential evangelical televangelists and pastors including Joel Osteen and Dallas’ Bishop T.D. Jakes.
Daystar CEO Joni Lamb and her son, Jonathan, are telling starkly different stories about a family rift that led to his firing last month and has since roiled Christian media.
Jonathan Lamb says his young daughter was sexually abused by a male relative, and the allegations led to a disagreement with his parents — the founders of Daystar.
A Daystar spokesperson called Jonathan’s accusations of sexual abuse by a family member unfounded in a Nov. 21 statement to The News. The relative, through his attorney, also vehemently denied the allegations.
The decision to terminate Jonathan came after a 15-month review of his work performance and “his refusal to take any steps to satisfy a detailed performance improvement plan put in place,” according to a Nov. 25 statement from Joni Lamb.
Joni Lamb became Daystar’s CEO after her husband’s death in 2021. Their son was formerly the network’s vice president.
Colleyville police told The News they recently reopened an investigation into the allegations by Jonathan Lamb and his wife Suzy Lamb that their daughter was sexually abused.
In a series of interviews with The News over the last three weeks, Jonathan Lamb said he told Joni and his father, Marcus Lamb, before his father died, about the alleged abuse, and they refused to believe any family member was involved, calling it a misunderstanding.
The News does not name victims of alleged sexual assault. It is also not naming the relative who Jonathan and Suzy Lamb allege abused their child. He has not been charged with a crime and has denied wrongdoing.
Korman’s website, LoveIsrael.org, says the international Bible teacher was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home and is a “redeemed believer and follower of Yeshua the Messiah.”
“It was our expectation to continue with Daystar on into the future. But as I’m sure many of you have heard, there [have] been some problems at Daystar,” Korman said in the video.
“I am not going to comment in regard to any of these things, other than to say this: As followers of our Lord and Savior Messiah Yeshua that is Jesus Christ, we are obligated, and we do so joyfully, to embrace God’s standards…” he said in the video.
LoveIsrael says on its website that its mission is to teach the whole Bible to the whole world. “Our mission and purpose is to provide verse-by-verse teaching of the entire Bible from the original languages and the Jewish context of Scripture in order to glorify G-d and equip the body of believers to live a G-d pleasing life,” according to the ministry.
Thompson, the Canadian author, said she was parting ways with the network in a Nov. 26 YouTube video titled “Why We Are Leaving Daystar Television.”
“It is with great sadness and personal angst that we are going to give notice to Daystar Canada that we will be removing our show from their network as per our contract, with grave fear of the Lord and due to what we perceive to be numerous ethical deficits,” Thompson said in the video.
“The reason that we have to speak on this is because [Christian leaders are] silent,” Thompson told The News. “This kingdom of money and power has an entire network to speak for themselves and defend themselves, while this little girl does not have that.”
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.