Televangelist Kenneth Copeland has been filmed in a bizarre interview saying that he needs private jets to fly to places like Nigeria after coming under backlash for owning three private jets.
Copeland, 82, who was estimated to be worth $760 million in October 2018, appeared to be caught off guard by Lisa Guerrero of Inside Edition.
When asked what his response was to critics who say it is unbecoming for preachers to fly in luxury, Copeland says: “It takes a lot of money to do what we do. We have brought 122 million people to the Lord Jesus Christ. Last May, I was scheduled for Lagos Nigeria, that’s a long way.
“I had a week off and I was scheduled for Peru. And I prayed about it and I thought ‘I’m not missing that dedication in Jerusalem’, without the airplane that we have, that I bought from Tyler Perry and I didn’t pay anywhere near…Tyler is one of the greatest guys. He made that airplane so cheap I couldn’t help but buy it.”
At some point, the preacher appears upset with the interviewer, pointing his finger at her.
At other moments, he shows a cheerful disposition and deflects questions by complimenting her on her eyes, praying for her, and even kissing her hand.
Last year, he purchased a $3 million Gulfstream V private jet from producer and actor, Tyler Perry.
On a comment he made in 2016 about where he called flying commercial getting in ‘a long tube with demons’, the preacher says: “No I did not and don’t you ever say I did.”
He then explains how watching marshals drag a passenger off a plane – seemingly referring to an April 2017 incident – made him so mad.
Using it as an example for why he prefers to fly privately, he asks: “Do you think that’s a good environment for a preacher to be?”
