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Politics | 08/13/2008 12:15 pm

Preacher's Wife Accused of Airplane Assault on Flight Attendant

By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Victoria and Joel Osteen
Victoria and Joel Osteen at Houston's Lakewood Church/Wikipedia

Megachurch evangelist Joel Osteen is used to being in the news, but the story about his wife is one he probably wishes would stay buried.

Osteen’s wife, Victoria, is being sued by a Continental Airlines flight attendant who claims the preacher’s wife assaulted her before a 2005 flight. The attendant, Sharon Brown, told jurors Tuesday that Victoria Osteen eyed the cockpit door after throwing her against a bathroom door. The civil lawsuit proceedings will continue Wednesday.

"I looked in her eyes and realized she was looking at the cockpit. I positioned myself in front of the cockpit," Brown testified Tuesday, reports the Associated Press. "I still was trying to understand what was going on because it happened so quick. My main concern was I wasn’t going to let this lady in the cockpit."

Brown claims that the co-pastor of Houston’s Lakewood Church began yelling at the flight attendant, threw her against the door and elbowed her in the left breast after she tried to assure Victoria Osteen that a spill on the armrest of her first-class seat would be cleaned up before the start of the flight from Houston to Vail, CO.

Victoria Osteen has previously testified she was "dumbfounded" and "shook up" after the assault accusation. Her attorney is trying to cast doubt that an assault ever took place, and whether Brown suffered any physical or mental injuries from the alleged attack; doctors found no physical injuries. The flight attendant claimed that after the attack, she could not work for five days because of stress and anxiety.

Both Victoria Osteen and Joel Osteen, who were on the same flight, testified that no attack took place.

Brown once described Joel Osteen as "the devil" and his megachurch as "a cult," but she told jurors Tuesday that her perceptions have since changed.

"I was talking out of context. I don’t know their church, never been to their church," Brown said about her remarks, made in a deposition in July 2007.

37 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

James the Game
It all depends on who’s telling the truth. I find it hard to believe anyone could be so stressed out after being pushed into a door that they miss five days of work. It could be this flight attendant’s just trying to make a buck off a rich family whose faith she previously has denounced. Then again, maybe Victoria is one of those types who is so used to getting her way, that anyone who dares stop her had better look out.
By James the Game on 08/13/2008 8:47 pm
mary lou s
a sharp elbow to the boob would do it to most of us.
By mary lou s on 08/17/2008 11:35 pm
C Hardy
This is also the first I have heard of this story…I would think if it really happened the way she said it did, it would have been more on the news given how famous the Osteen’s are and how much money they make…Not saying the flight attendant is lying but if VO was really trying to get into the cockpit there are marshalls that would have met her at the airport for questioning…
By C Hardy on 08/13/2008 8:48 pm
Sherry S
I am not surprised at this after watching them several times on their television show. It was obvious they think they are movie stars. Joel commented on it is his wife’s duty to look good for him such as not gain weight, wear Fredericks of Hollywood apparel, etc. He probably is in favor of her getting plastic surgery too. I never watched again as he is obviously very shallow. The same will most likely happen about this issue on the airplane— to interpret his way.
By Sherry S on 08/13/2008 10:18 pm
James the Game
Joel Osteen preaches so much good, and helps so many. But, if he’s the only source followers are getting their information from, or his is the only service they attend, they’re missing out on many of the main points of the Bible. His sermons are way too focused on individualism, as opposed to the bigger picture. You’re right: a lot of it seems money-driven or superficial. But I still like him and his positive Christian message. But he’s not telling the whole story.
By James the Game on 08/14/2008 10:57 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
Living in Houston where they have their church in what used to be the Summit where the Rockets played basketball, I have been hearing about this for quite a while. Although I think that the flight attendant may be overdoing it with what she is asking, I can imagine the situation. They seem to feel that they are above others and the books that he writes seem more self-help than religious yet everything he does gets tax free status.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 08/14/2008 10:59 am
Diana T
Why does this guy get tax free status?? Anytime I have watched him—can’t stand him for over 1 minute—I have never heard him as a preacher, but more as a motivator and coach.
By Diana T on 08/14/2008 1:15 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
Oops meant below as a reply, not quite with it yet on my new little laptop.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 08/14/2008 5:45 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
My feelings exactly, it seems too many people are able to call themselves a Pastor of some church nowadays. And make millions doing it.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 08/14/2008 3:06 pm
Diana T
We have a mega-church here and they have a cafe and chef, and they have tax free status. Seems like a free ride to me. Of course, they also do a lot for the community, but I still believe the non-religious parts of these institutions should be paying taxes. I don’t think this is what our founding fathers had in mind with their concerns over state and church issues. And, the TV evangelists? Don’t even get me started on those charlatans!
By Diana T on 08/14/2008 7:02 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
Well, it just came on the news here, the jury came back on the side of Osteen. So I guess it pays to have God on your side. On a much sadder note, and having nothing to do with this site, they also just announced that for the second time in 2 days a child was left in a car all day in a parking and died. Now that is a true horror story.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 08/14/2008 7:23 pm
Frannie Em
Sandbee I almost got in a fight with a woman once who left her child locked in a hot car at the bank. She didn’t want to bother bringing them in, and what was my problem? The child was panting and beet red. People were around me trying to get the doors open, and finally someone found the woman in the bank. Such stupidity. One time I took my youngest to a Mommie and Me gym or gymboree or something like that, and when I pulled up, there I kept hearing this funny noise. I started into the building but something made me turn around and look, and there was a little boy screaming, strapped in his car seat with the windows rolled up, it wasn’t hot, but he was gagging crying he was so upset. Almost choking because he was tilted backwards in his seat. I was appalled. I went in the gym and the asked around, and the woman was in a class with her little girl, who was about 5 months old. She said her son had misbehaved so she locked him in the car because “the baby shouldn’t have to miss her class. She loves it so much.” I though the owners of the business were going to croak. What goes through someone’s mind that can do something like that after all of the deaths we have heard about?
By Frannie Em on 08/15/2008 3:35 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
When I lived in Nevada they had laws that allowed you to break a window if you found a pet suffering in a hot car, how these people get away with doing this to children is just beyond me.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 08/15/2008 5:16 pm
Diana T
Sandbee, There have been 2or 3 convictions here in Lexington in regards to that very thing. Horror of horrors, I cannot believe it when that happens. Do people not realize that a car can get way up in the 100’s, even if the windows are cracked? But, when it happened locally, the juries convicted them and they ended up doing time. As far as Osteen, I guess they will sue the airline within an inch of their life and milk it for all it’s worth. I mean no offense to anyone,but I don’t find the Osteens very believeable.
By Diana T on 08/14/2008 7:33 pm
Sandbee (FB) 54
These women, one the mother & one the grandmother, both have said that they forgot that the children were in the car. How you can forget a 3 or 4 year is beyond me. I brought up 3 kids, mostly as a single mother and cannot imagine such a situation. I hope both are properly punished. With the Osteens, yes they will probably come out of this whole thing even better off than they were, some people seem to know how to work the system that way.
By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 08/14/2008 8:27 pm