(Photo: Anna Webber/Getty Images for Dove Awards/Instagram)
Gospel artist James Hall is filing a lawsuit against a jilted bishop who he claims got the wrong idea when Hall tried to show Christian fellowship.
Hall said that when he helped Pentecostal Bishop Jeffrey Thomas through an illness, it was simply an act of Christ-like love, but the bishop became romantically interested in Hall, pursuing him relentlessly and even flying into jealous rages when Hall drew the interests of other men and women.
According to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, after Hall had rejected him multiple times, Thomas took to social media to hint that Hall was involved in a sexual relationship with the pastor of their Cypress Hills church. He also contacted church members in order to spread more salacious rumors, according to the suit.
Hall claimed that Thomas was spreading the rumors in an attempt to “destroy me and my career.”
“There is not justification for this conduct,” Hall said in the lawsuit. “There is no justification for this conduct. Mr. Thomas has never expressed any purpose to his actions other than some imagined relationship he believes he has with me, and is nothing more than a disgruntled fan.”
Before filing the suit, Hall had previously took to social media to address a photograph of him and a shirtless Thomas that he says was misconstrued by the church community.
“Me and a friend were sitting on my couch acting silly as friends DO!!!! We weren’t even the only people in the room,” Hall explained. “When I saw the pic posted, I decided that it was inappropriate and could be misread especially for the climate we live in today. There’s nothing to talk about, But I get it. You think you have something, BUT YOU HAVE NOTHING!”
Hall’s suit seeks an injunction against Thomas as well as $15 million in damages.
