A federal judge has dismissed the final claim in disgraced pastor Johnny Hunt’s $100M lawsuit against his former denomination and their respective entities, with the final nail against then-SBC president Bart Barber now fully resolved.
A decade ago, Hunt engaged in what he describes as a “brief, consensual extramarital encounter,” and what the woman involved maintains was non-consensual sexual assault. His church was never told about the incident and he went through a secret restoration. It remained a secret for a decade until it was outed in the recent Guidepost investigation.
These allegations of sexual assault and revelation of (at the minimum) a “brief, consensual extramarital encounter” caused Hunt’s life and ministry to implode. He lost his job as VP at NAMB, was formally suspended from his position as Pastor Emeritus at First Baptist Church of Woodstock congregation, and was subject to great personal embarrassment.
Hunt sued the SBC and Guidepost for labeling him as an abuser and making this public, saying that his sexual encounters were no one’s business but his own. In court transcripts, Hunt insisted that while he may have been ‘unfaithful’ to his wife by kissing another woman’s breasts and pulling down her underwear, he did not commit adultery, as no penetration took place.
Hunt sued for $100M, alleging “economic harms of $15.4M, harm to reputation of $30M – $45M, and emotional harm of $30M – $45M.” Of special note is that Hunt says he has lost $610,000 a year in lost wages, along with $3,969,00 a year in book sales and another $350,000 a year in speaking engagements.
Last year Judge William Campbell granted motions for summary judgment ruling in favor of SBC, the Executive Committee, and Guidpost Solutions, but at hand was this remaining tweet from Barber:
The ruling states:
Court concludes that Hunt was a public figure during the relevant time. And because he was a public figure, the actual malice standard applies to his defamation claims. As the Court previously explained, Hunt does not have evidence that the Tweet (or any of the publications) was made with actual malice.
Explaining further how he was a public figure, the court writes:
Hunt professed renown, describing himself as the “pinnacle,” “face of the Convention,” someone that “everyone in the convention knew,” a “sought-after speaker and author,” and a “noted speaker at state and national SBC conferences and conventions.”
…Hunt was, in fact, well-known within the community of Southern Baptists and beyond. He was pastor of one of the largest churches in the United States for over 30 years (over 15,000 members with 6,000 attendees on Sundays).
From 2008-2010, Hunt was President of the SBC, which, with over 12 million members, is one of the largest evangelical bodies in the country. Then, in 2019, because they “wanted [his] name,” the SBC-affiliated North American Mission Board (“NAMB”) hired him as Executive Vice President.
More than that, however, his sermons were streamed on the Internet and available for purchase; he published and sold numerous books; and he published other materials online on what “became an extremely popular website for pastors around the world.” For over a decade Hunt had one of the “most popular devotions in America” that was published by Harper Collins, the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world.
In 2022 and currently, Hunt’s website lists approximately 1,500 items for sale, including books and sermons. Hunt claims nearly $4 million in damages for lost book sales alone. Hunt hosted various conferences each year, including a men’s conference every year for 30 years. He spoke to groups across the country.
In 2010, Hunt incorporated “Johnny Hunt Ministries,” through which his publications and speaking engagements are channeled.
Moreover, on November 23, 2022, after working with a publicist and his “restoration team,” Hunt released a scripted fourteen-minute video announcing his “restoration” and return to ministry. Hunt’s announcement of his restoration drew attention from religious and mainstream news outlets.
The video, Hunt’s website, and extensive publications, and the wide-spread attention from the press at the time show that Hunt had and still has access to channels of communication and therefore, had a “more realistic opportunity to counteract false statements than private individuals normally enjoy.”
Speaking about the ruling, Barber wrote on X:
