Celebrity pastor Carl Lentz’s wife was fired from Hillsong Church over his cheating, multiple sources have claimed, and his mistress has said she she knew he was married but still went ahead with seeing him because he was ‘like a drug to her’.
Lentz, who brought Hillsong from Australia to the US and famously baptized Justin Bieber, was fired last Wednesday from the global megachurch and confessed on social media the following day that he had cheated on his wife of 17 years with 34-year-old fashion designer Ranin Karim.
They met in May in Domino Park, Williamsburg, when he offered her his socially distanced circle on the grass.
In a statement last Wednesday, the church said that Laura – his wife of 17 years – had also left her role in the organization but they did not say why.
Now, sources have told The Sun that she was cast out because of her husband’s infidelity despite having known the church founders her entire life.
‘That was their reasoning for having to also get rid of Laura for Carl’s mistakes,’ the source said, adding that Laura was ‘devastated’ by the news which was ‘just the cherry on top of this whole ordeal for her.’
Church leaders reportedly dismissed Laura immediately on learning about Lentz’s affair because ‘if a married couple both work at the church and one of them is terminated, they both will be fired immediately,’ a source said.
New details have also emerged about the five-month affair between Lentz and Ranin, and how Laura found out about it when seeing his iCloud messages on a computer.
Ranin has also admitted to researching his phone number once she had it and learning about his family life and the church.
She says she is speaking out now to share the ‘truth’ and says she would not be surprised if other women come forward.
The scandal erupted last Wednesday, when the church issued a statement announcing that Lentz was leaving because of ‘moral failures’.
They would not disclose what those were. The next day, Lentz gave more details on Instagram.
‘I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that.
‘This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions. I now begin a journey of rebuilding trust with my wife, Laura and my children and taking real time to work on and heal my own life and seek out the help that I need,’ he wrote.
Ranin was identified the following day.
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Source: Daily Mail
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