The TLDR: Marcus Rogers inserted himself into a very public but also sensitive family and business matter that did not concern him in any way. He ended up making things worse for all and AGAIN used the name of God to justify it all. He is coming out of it appearing to be opportunistic and manipulative. Read on for more details
Cable TV Christian Network Daystar ended 2024 in scandal.
In November 2024, journalist Julie Roys reported a major story that would shake the foundations of the giant cable TV network Daystar. Details are still unfolding months later, and include issues from divorce, unbiblical marriage, financial impropriety, spiritual abuse and child sexual abuse.  Julies Roys has now done well over a dozen articles and podcasts and as of mid January 2025, and she is still investigating the details.
Daystar, which has more than 100 TV stations in the United States and a worldwide presence, is owned by the Word of God Fellowship, operated by the Lamb family and legally registered as a 501c3 church. Pastors and teachers featured on the network include Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, Andrew Wommack, Paula White, and Jim Bakker
It’s a very complicated situation, mainly due to the fact that Daystar was founded and continues to be run by the Lamb family. Trouble escalated in 2021 after the death of Marcus Lamb, president of Daystar and husband to Joni, father of Jonathan and Rachel. There had been an informal agreement before Marcus’ death that Jonathan would take over after Marcus retired. After Marcus’ untimely death, disagreements arose after leadership of Daystar was questioned. It seemed the board which included Joni and Jonathan and two others. thought it might be best for Joni to run the company until they were all confident Jonathan was ready.
Jonathan disagreed but his objections were ignored. To make things significantly more complicated, it had recently been discovered that Jonathan’s daughter had reported being sexually abused. Jonathan and his wife Suzy, had reason to suspect that a close relative may be the perpetrator. Allegedly, Joni tried to cover and conceal this to avoid a public scandal.Â
Also complicating this situation was Joni’s quick remarriage to a longtime family friend, Doug Weiss, who divorced his longtime wife soon after Marcus’ death. Jonathan and Suzy were very uncomfortable with this and refused to make public statements affirming their marriage. After this Joni was more adamant to withhold his position at Daystar.
The situation came to a head when Jonathan recorded board meetings where Joni and another board member verbally abused him and pressured him to either cooperate or resign. After failing to resolve the situation, Jonathan and Suzy decided to go public, so they reached out to Julie Roys.
Enter Marcus Rogers. Â
Somehow, Marcus was suggested to Jonathan and Suzy as someone who would help them spread their message on his social media platform. On December 4th, Marcus posted this on his Facebook:
This interview was online for about two weeks and was generally well received. Spurred by Marcus’ apparent sympathetic demeanor and assurances that he knew Jonathan and Suzy were sincere because God told him, the interview served to create an enormous outcry against Joni. Programmers began to cancel their airtime on Daystar. Calls for Joni to resign and viewer cancellations became rampant for blatantly betraying the trust of Jonathan and Suzy.
God told Marcus to expose the Christian Illuminati
For months, Marcus had been talking about his vision to expose what he called the “Christian Illuminati” which he says includes famous preachers, entertainers and influencers who claim to represent Christ. Â
One Minute of Marcus explaining what the “Christian Illuminati” is
He claims that there is much corruption in these circles and feels God wants him to expose it. The big Christian TV Networks like Daystar are very much a part of what he considers “illuminati” With that in mind, it seemed he was poised to continue using his platform to expose Daystar’s corruption. Â
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Marcus met Browne at a conference two years ago. Browne pledged to help Marcus by “making him an offer he can’t refuse“
That being said what came next was a huge shock. Marcus, claiming he had received wise counsel from “many great men of God whom he trusted” was apparently suggested to Joni by someone at Daystar, perhaps Rodney Howard Browne, to also interview with Marcus to give her side of the story. Marcus claimed it was the most Biblically correct thing to do, to get both sides.
So Marcus agreed to go to Daystar and do an interview with Joni. Joni’s public image had been so tarnished that Marcus faced sharp questions about his intentions. Marcus posted that his intention was not to take a side but to go to Daystar to “look Joni in the eye” and listen to her side of the story. While the interview with Jonathan and Suzy was intimate, casual and informal, the Daystar interview was polar opposite. The questions seemed limited and scripted. Marcus asked no questions to challenge Joni’s claims.
Like the previous interview, Marcus affirmed that God had told him to come. He even said that, as proof, he had prayed that if God didn’t want him to go, that he would know if his flight was cancelled. It wasn’t, therefore it was God’s will.
The general public perception as that this was a puff PR piece for Joni, and a hit piece against Jonathan and Suzy. Many who had rallied behind Marcus initially were frustrated and disappointed. They were met with a complete reversal by Marcus, who suddenly claimed he had been wrong to trust Jonathan and Suzy. He claimed Joni had shown him evidence that they had been lying. Marcus was barraged with questions because some of the info he claimed to have just found out was information that Jonathan and Suzy had made public weeks before. Marcus was chastised for his lack of preparation.
Then it got worse
Unable to tolerate the criticism. Marcus deleted both interviews, then issued a “repentance video” where he doubled down on his narrative that Joni was the true victim and said he was wrong to interview Jonathan and Suzy (even though God had told him to?) He also went on to once again blaspheme God by saying God told him that Jonathan was a “Jacob”, a deceiver and a weak man, and that Suzy was a “Potiphar’s wife” and also called Joni a “Sarah” which was a much more positive image.
Once again, he got so much outrage, he edited off the end where he was casting insults in God’s name and turned off the comments. He vowed that he was done with the situation and wouldn’t bring it up again.
And worse
But not surprisingly, Marcus issued a few more statements defending himself. He consistently insisted he did the right thing and that only he had all the information on both sides. He often insinuated he had so much proof from Joni that Jonathan and Suzy were the corrupt and unfaithful parties. He has it all on his phone apparently and he was being “nice” by not exposing them further. He has done nothing since except parrot Joni’s talking points and ignores any intervention that seeks to help him become better informed, since he admitted himself he wasn’t informed enough when he entered the situation.Â
Jonathan and Suzy put out statements expressing disappointment and confusion with Marcus and his betrayal, and once again Marcus could not handle the criticism and posted a video again criticizing them and defending himself, even adding a somewhat threatening tone “They picked the wrong one” Once again, comments were turned off
And on it goes
Even though Marcus’ part in this tragedy has long been over, he keeps bringing it up and re-inserting himself. For example on January 21st, Marcus decided to post about the appearance of pastor Phillip Mitchell on Daystar, making even this about him. He insisted that it be acknowledged that somehow it was obvious that, since pastor Mitchell was generally considered a decent man of God (debatable) and prayed on air with Joni and Doug Weiss, that means somehow Marcus is vindicated for being on the “right side”.
This situation is still ongoing with most of the issues unresolved. the sexual abuse case is being investigated, and programmers are still leaving Daystar.
Since Marcus is still keeping his name visible, speculations are growing that he has been ingratiating himself with Joni to secure some airtime on Daystar. It has always been Marcus’ dream to have his own TV station and now the opportunity seems to have come knocking. Perhaps he will finally get the “offer he can’t refuse” from Rodney Howard Browne. who is well connected at Daystar. Video about Marcus and Rodney Howard Browne here.
But has he gone too far with his foolish and rash use of his infamous “God told me”? While this kind of heretical nonsense is quite common among the usual programmers at Daystar, the Marcus Rogers brand is not trending well.
Only time will tell.
For more information, Julie Roys has had the most thorough and accurate information available from numerous sources at Daystar. You can read her complete set of reports here: