The controversial social media personality has left even more controversy after his death. Samuels’ passing was greeted with renewed debates about the messages he preached. Marlon Wayans thanked Samuels for his service and TI defended him from post-mortem “bullying.”
When word came out that Samuels’ family had started a GoFundMe for his funeral service, critics were quick to point out the hypocrisy, as Samuels had made a career urging followers to achieve financial independence. This prompted more defense of Samuels- Omarion condemned pastor Jamal Bryant for bringing up the fundraiser in a sermon.
It turns out, however, that the GoFundMe in question was actually fraudulent. After Samuels’ family was contacted for comment, they denied ever creating the account, and it was then promptly deleted from the GoFundMe site. To drive the point home, the family even turned down the money offered by GoFundMe as consolation. The money in question was then returned to donors.
These events come on the heels of another Samuels-related name-clearing. The woman who was reportedly with Samuels at the time of his death spoke out about the night he passed after she felt she needed to establish that she did nothing wrong in the wake of multiple attacks on social media.
Meanwhile, Samuels and his teachings continue to make the news. TI dedicated a recent episode of his show ExpediTIously to Samuels, while DL Hughley recently hopped on Twitter to claim that “R. Kelly would get warmer condolences” than Samuels.
Samuels was 57 when he died of a reported heart attack.
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