HOURS after it was announced that the wife of legally embattled Georgia minister Bishop Eddie Long had filed for a divorce, his wife Vanessa Long seemed to have had a rethinking on the issue.
The first lady of New Birth Missionary Baptist church has announced that she will now withdraw the suit.
Earlier on Friday, Vanessa Long issued a statement saying that after ‘a great deal of deliberation and prayer, I have decided to terminate my marriage to Bishop Eddie L Long’ and that she had authorized her attorneys to do so on Dec. 1, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
However, by the afternoon, Vanessa Long sent a second statement, saying, “Upon prayerful reflection, I have reconsidered and plan to withdraw my petition for divorce from my husband, Bishop Eddie L. Long. I love my husband. I believe in him and admire his strength and courage.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution attributed ‘attacks in the media’ for her initial decision to divorce Long.
Eddie Long, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., has been charged recently with sexual harassment and sued for allegedly enmeshing his congregation in a million-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Ever since he was accused of sexual misconduct by four young men in Sept 2010 he has been under the scanner.
The four men filed a lawsuit against the pastor claiming that he had lavished them with gifts, trips and money while coercing them into sexual contact.
Long denied the charges of sexual misconduct and vowed to fight them, all the while maintaining that he tried to serve as a father figure to the young men and offer them support, financial assistance and guidance.
In the midst of the case, the Georgia minister was sued by a fifth man, who was not a member of the church, and who reportedly received $94,000 without ever officially becoming an ‘accuser,’ the Christian Post reported.
An out-of-court settlement was reached between Long and his accusers in May 2011 in which each was to receive undisclosed sums of money as long as the case was not discussed. Sources estimate the cost of the settlement to have been around $15 million.
When allegations surrounding his sexual misconduct seemed to be dying down, another controversy cropped up. In October, 10 members of Long’s church filed a civil suit against him for allegedly using his influence to convince them to invest in a what turned out to be a million-dollar Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme, according to court papers.
In Vanessa Long’s first statement announcing the divorce, she said that it was her ‘sincere hope that this matter can be resolved expeditiously, harmoniously and fairly. I ask that you respect my privacy and that of my family, as my attorneys and I have agreed that we will not try this case in the media, and I do not intend to make any further statements concerning this matter.’
Eddie Long and Vanessa married in 1990 and have three children together.
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