Joni Lamb, the glamorous and controversial co-founder of the massive Christian broadcaster Daystar Television Network, has died at 65 after quietly battling what the network described as a series of “serious health matters” behind closed doors.
The longtime evangelical TV powerhouse passed away Thursday after her condition reportedly took a devastating turn following a back injury that triggered a medical crisis no one around her expected.
In a statement announcing her death, Daystar said Lamb had been privately facing major health struggles for some time but chose not to reveal them publicly.
“Joni’s love for the Lord and for the people we serve shaped this ministry from the beginning,” the network said. “We grieve her loss, and we are grateful for the legacy of faith she leaves behind.”
The shocking news stunned many followers of the Texas-based network, where Lamb had remained a central figure both on-screen and behind the scenes for decades.
Lamb launched Daystar in 1993 alongside her first husband, Marcus Lamb, transforming the once-small religious station into one of the world’s largest evangelical television networks. At its height, Daystar reportedly reached more than 100 million homes across America and generated millions in revenue through donations and airtime sales.
Operating from Bedford, Texas, Lamb became one of the best-known faces in religious broadcasting while living a lavish lifestyle in a multimillion-dollar mansion.
But in recent years, controversy followed the ministry closely.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Joni and Marcus Lamb drew national attention for promoting anti-vaccine voices and questioning mainstream pandemic guidance on their programs. The couple became closely aligned with vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who later became Health and Human Services Secretary.
Marcus Lamb himself died in 2021 at age 64 from COVID-related complications — a death their son Jonathan described at the time as a “spiritual attack from the enemy.”
“As much as my parents have informed everyone about the pandemic and ways to treat COVID, there’s no doubt the enemy is not happy about that,” Jonathan told Relevant Magazine after his father’s death.
Following Marcus’ passing, Joni remarried in 2023 to psychologist and Daystar host Doug Weiss.
But the family would soon be thrown into even deeper turmoil.
In 2024, Daystar was rocked by explosive accusations from Jonathan Lamb, who claimed he was pushed out of the network after reporting allegations that his young daughter had been sexually abused by a male relative.
Jonathan publicly accused his mother of helping cover up the allegations, triggering a bitter and very public family feud.
Joni fiercely denied the claims and accused her son of fabricating the story because he was angry he had not been named president of Daystar after his father’s death.
The investigation ultimately ended without criminal charges, and the accused relative denied wrongdoing.
Even as scandal swirled around the ministry, Joni Lamb remained a powerful figure in Christian media until her sudden decline in health.
Now, supporters are mourning the woman many credited with building a global faith empire — while critics remember the controversies that surrounded her final years.
