Is it me, or is there something mighty fishy going on here…
Joel Osteen, Wife Deny Assault Charges in Court.
Evangelical pastor Joel Osteen defended his wife and co-pastor of the renowned Lakewood Church in a Houston court room Friday, testifying that she did not assault a flight attendant in 2005.
Victoria Osteen has been sued by Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown, who claims the pastor assaulted her shortly before the start of a 2005 flight to Vail, Colorado, over discontent with her seat.
Victoria Osteen, 47, claims she did not assault Brown.
Her husband Joel Osteen was called as a witness Friday and he testified before the jury that Victoria did not assault Sharon Brown because there was a small spill on her seat.
Osteen also said his wife never raised her voice nor did she touch the flight attendants.
The previous day, Maria Johnson, a flight attendant who had been on the plane at the time of the alleged incident, testified that Victoria Osteen demanded that the small spill be cleaned up and then became verbally and physically abusive when that did not happen as rapidly as she wished it to.
Johnson said Victoria Osteen grabbed Brown by the shoulders, elbowed her in the chest and pushed her away as she tried to reach the cockpit.
Joel Osteen denied Johnson’s accusations but later admitted he could not hear his wife’s voice from where he was seated nor could he see.
He also denied Brown’s assertion that Victoria Osteen was asked to leave the plane by the flight crew and that instead he and his family left voluntarily.
The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member. The flight was also delayed because of the incident.
Sharon Brown is asking for an apology and punitive damages amounting to 10 percent of Victoria Osteen’s net worth. She is also seeking counseling expenses.
August 9th, 2008 5:58 pm
I wonder if Joel smiled throughout his testimony in court?
August 9th, 2008 10:18 pm
I personally don’t believe a word of what this flight attendent is alleging. There have been many instances of common people trying to get something for nothing. Taking a imagined incident or a small confrontation to exploit a celebrity or persons in positions of authority for their own greedy ambitions. 10% of Victoria’s net worth! What a load of crap! Is that amount justified? If this incident did occur did Victoria break one of her ribs or cause internal bleeding? Victoria must possess great strength and workout to have damaged this woman. Makes me wonder for Joel’s safety?! Ha Ha!
No I believe this flight attendent may have got her feelings hurt by Victoria’s insistence to have her seat cleaned – and isn’t that their job anyway?
By the way I love Joel and Victoria’s ministry and I have never seen a more humble couple as these two. They have a great message for the world. Just listen to them sometime it may change your life!
fkwauneka@gmail.com
August 9th, 2008 10:27 pm
Their lack of ministry, so-called, is not the point. I tend to believe that humanity as a whole are filled with opportunists. This flight attendant may be one, but time will tell. What is telling about Joel already is that he was no where near his wife yet can testify to her actions.
August 9th, 2008 10:34 pm
I hope he did smile. He has an infectious smile, a smile fashioned by the hand of God. Only God and Victoria actually know how far she really went. In defense of both sides, two years to mull over what happened has a tendency to cause people to add onto their experiences or talk themselves into thinking it was not that bad. Shame this could not have been settled shortly after it happened. I am also afraid that for me she to move in her favor, the plantiff will have to claim more than hemorrhoids, anxiety and loss of faith; however on the latter, you cannot actually loose your faith in God at the hands of man, therefore one must reconcile she lost what she never had.
I, until all is out in the open, will prayerfully back Pastor Osteen’s wife because she is my sister in Christ. And this is not, according to what I have read, the plantiff’s first problem with screaming assault.
August 9th, 2008 10:38 pm
Well said.
August 10th, 2008 12:44 am
How big is first class that Joel was nowhere near? What equipment were they flying? Flying to Vail this would have been a smaller jet that one you could get lost on.
Where are the witnesses? They should be forth coming.
August 10th, 2008 11:49 am
“grabbed Brown by the shoulders, elbowed her in the chest and pushed her away as she tried to reach the cockpit.” Seriously you would have to be psycho woman to do that. I know some pretty feisty women but I have never seen any normal woman grab someone by the shoulders and elbow them in the chest. Seems a little opportunistic to me…
August 10th, 2008 10:58 pm
Just sounds like another day at the office….
August 11th, 2008 11:54 am
No she is not guilty…we all know flight attendants are rude as heck anyways….the story she is telling doesn’t even make sense..how could Victoria have pushed, elbowed her, and whatever else she is claiming she did, with out her husband knowing…or even witnesses…Airplanes are NOT that big, its not a house!
The case is stupid, and she is greedy for money, i wouldnt want to sit in a seat that had stains on it OR near it, and its not my job to clean it up. Why would you need 10% of their net worth? So because he is the pastor of Lakewood Church he is a billionarie even a millionaire….NO thats just ignorant.
August 12th, 2008 12:03 am
This is just a test of there faith, who more than Pastor Joel & Victoria to know that. This matter should be thrown out of the court house and find a better way to spend taxpayers money. Ms. Brown find another way to make money, maybe like working for it?
August 12th, 2008 8:08 am
Why is it that the flight attendant is on trial? Because of an attack on some false idol? Maybe we should just wait and see what happens.
August 12th, 2008 2:52 pm
Why do people consistently believe that preachers, their wives and followers are “beyond reproach” and it must always be the “other people” at fault, these “people” get themselves in such a “false expectation” of their lives, that they find it difficult to “relate” to ordinary people doing an ordinary job.
Open ur eyes church!
August 13th, 2008 11:26 am
Based on my 17 years of flying with airlines I would be willing to wager the flight attendant acted like a bully. I’ve seen it time and again, where the flight attendants mistakenly believe they must act as a bouncer in a bar. It happens so frequently I’m convinced it comes from management in the form of a training class. The course is probably titled, YOU WILL SUBMIT TO ME YOU STANKY PASSENGER!
August 13th, 2008 11:28 am
Dan, I haven’t flown that long, but I have noticed that some flight attendants are exactly as you described, but again, we must caution about lumping all in the same lump. I have seen a few myself that are everything an attendant should be.
August 13th, 2008 6:36 pm
There are so many rediculous aspects to this story it’s not even funny. First of all, does she really expect the jury to believe that she was elbowed and thrown into the door on an aircraft and neutral witnesses didn’t witness it. A fellow flight attendant is not neutral. Several fellow passengers that didn’t witness an altercation and testified as such are. Since when does someone go to court and claim that their damages are “loss of faith” and she needs psychiatric treatment because of it. She has probably gotten into more of a scuffle on the playground than she is accusing Victoria of. It is obvious that she needs treatment though, but it’s not because of the Olsteens.
August 14th, 2008 5:04 pm
I would never suggest “all” flight attendants are the same. Just suggesting I have seen enough of it over the years to believe its more than just a personality quirk. I still believe a paying customer should be treated like a paying customer and not like a vagabond.