Tommy R. Bennett, a former employee of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the Rainbow Push Coalition and Barack Obama’s LGBT Leadership Council, has filed a wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against Jesse Jackson with Chicago’s Commission on Human Rights. It is scathing filing that alleges that Jackson routinely forces staffers to arrange (and clean up after) his trysts with women as well as other demeaning jobs. Jackson previously had to admit in 2001 to an affair with staffer, Karin Stanford, that resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ashley. He swore that he had again found God and the Rainbow Coalition paid Stanford money to resolve the scandal.
Bennett, 55, further suggests that Jackson asked him for oral sex.
One article states that Jackson allowed staff to avoid working with Bennett due to homophobic views. Bennett worked for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition for more than two years as the National Director of Community Affairs. In the interview, Bennett states “[Jackson] used me as a scapegoat because he was dating two women. … However, because I knew what was going on, he told his family and friends that I wrote a letter [outing one of the girlfriends], which was not true. By doing that, it looked like I was the bad person. At that point, [one of the alleged mistresses] told [Jackson] to get rid of me.”
The allegations include such acts as Jackson demanding that Bennett put cream between his legs to handle a rash and, when Bennett refused, calling him a “little motherf***er.”
These are the type of allegations that make litigation costly for any defendant. With the interviews given by Bennett, it will be telling to see if Jackson sues for defamation. While the Complaint is privileged, out of court statements are not privileged and can be the basis for slander.
I will confess to not being a fan of Jackson. Having grown up in Chicago, he seemed to be a man who used religion to acquire wealth and power. However, he has a right to be heard on such allegations, which involve a number of scenes where only Bennett and Jackson were present. In the interim, it could pose a new problem for Obama has he continues his push in the black communities, particularly after his controversial decision to embrace the equally controversial Al Sharpton in New York. The question is how the President will handle appearances with Jackson pending the outcome of this case.
Rainbow PUSH released a statement standing by Jackson, stating “[Bennett’s] inflammatory allegations are an attempt to malign Reverend Jackson and the organization.”
I am still trying to get a copy of the Complaint.
Source: NBC
Oh yeah, Jesse’s also a deadbeat dad. According to his baby mama, he doesn’t spend any time w/ their daughter and he’s behind in child support.
That’s why he made those comments about Obama being a half-breed(insert n-word here) and he said that he wanted to cut Obama’s n**s off/out. During a Father’s Day speech in Chicago, the president told a predominately black audience that black men need to step up and be fathers to their children. Obama stated that being a father means more than just making babies. Jesse got mad b/c of what Obama was telling those black males. He felt the president was out of line.
Back when I was a young girl, I knew there was something shady about Jesse. But there’s something I just can’t figure out. Why do ppl(especially blacks) still respect and follow him?
I wondered if this story was on this website. It’s not surprising that Jesse’s finally being exposed as the traitor, instigator, and scam artist he really is. Not only b/c of these allegation but others that prove he’s just as crooked as any other reverend/politician. In fact, Jesse has no credentials that proves he qualifies as a reverend. He just slapped the title in front of his name.
I have a gut feeling that Tommy Bennett is telling the truth. He stated that Jesse told him about a gay high school teacher who let Jesse drive his car, gave Jesse money, and oral sex everyday. Jesse told Tommy that he didn’t consider it being gay. Jesse calls it survival.
If Jesse’s found not guilty of these charges, I’ll be totally surprised.
I wondered if this story was on this site. For some reason, I believe Tommy Bennett. Especially when he stated that Jesse told him about a gay teacher who let Jesse drive his car, gave Jesse money, and gave Jesse oral sex everyday. Jesse’s one of those dudes who has experienced homosexuality BEFORE the exposure of black guys on the down-low.
Supposedly, Jesse stated that he didn’t consider male on male sex as gay. He called it survival. Driving a car, receiving money, and orgasms are big deals to many high school boys, especially if they reap any benefits.
Jesse’s a lying, cheating, two-faced(insert n-word here) since the 60’s.
It’s also being revealed that he has no credentials to prove he’s a reverend. He has no church. Jesse just placed the title reverend in front of his name.
There’s so much info online about this double-crossing rat that I’m just finding out. Serious allegations on levels that make me wonder why ppl(especially blacks) still respect and follow him.
From the time I was a young girl, I knew there was something shady about this dude.
If he’s found not guilty of these charges, I’ll be very surprised.
One thing that is really scary is how complicated the war on drugs has made things with politics. Similar to that described in prohibition.
I really liked the recent TV series Boardwalk Empire.
Such a huge percentage of the population is somehow connected with illegal drugs, even if only not telling, that it just has to be a contributing factor in almost every local government.
Remember how they used to talk about marijuana being a gateway drug? And then they decided that maybe it wasn’t a gateway drug? Maybe it is a gateway to government corruption with all sorts of pay offs and blackmail all the way through normal operations.
I’m still trying to figure out why “Jr.” hasn’t been indicted along with Blago. If Blago is charged with taking a cool million from Jr. to get Obama’s old seat, why isn’t Jr. charged for giving it? Jr. is much less of an a-hole than the old man, but he’s really been given a pass.
He’s also adulterer. Although the black community in Chicago really seemed primarilly pissed that Jr.’s squeeze was white.
He’s been virtually invisible in Chicago for the last year.
A white mistress(es) is the only thing that will cost the good Rev. any political capital.
Just because FOX, et al is going to enjoy this doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t as well. Just because I am liberal doesn’t
mean I have to like a dishonest jerk like Jackson./
I am essentially ambivalent about Rev. Jackson. The “Jetstream” tag is about right. Underneath his own self-defeating pomp and sillyness, he often does nail issues of injustice squarely on the head and follows Rev. King’s goals of calling on all of us to be better than we have been.
I just re-read his 1988 Democratic Convention speech, and he identified many of the critical problems we are dealing with today. It’s the speech that’s best known for, “Reagan gave the rich and the powerful a multibillion-dollar party. Now the party is over. He expects the people to pay for the damage.” Sound familiar? That party wasn’t big enough, we didn’t hit rock bottom, so we tried it again recently. But the speech goes on to deal with so many of the problems we are still failing to deal with today, the war on drugs, war for oil, whether or not the US will play a positive role in the developing world. While the overt phrasing of the speech was clearly intended for a national audience, my sense is that he was reminding the leadership of the Democratic party about what they need to focus on instead of becoming a pale imitation of the Republicans. More than 20 years later, it’s still a good summary of what American needs to be focusing on.
But he knows full well that racists and agents of the growing American plutocracy are overtly working to discredit him in order to maintain our racist structures and further shift America’s wealth to the richest. Given that knowledge, he can be a total idiot for feeding them the rope with which they try to string him up.
Sadly, I’m not surprised that someone might have had to deal with homophobia in the Christian culture at Operation PUSH. But two items that Prof. Turley pulled out seem fishy: the demand for oral sex and the request for rubbing cream on his legs from a man accused of homophobia. Maybe they are well founded, but the sound to be a bit much.
I guess in our weak economy, it’s a good thing that various staffers at Fox News and the James O’Keefe cottage industry will be fully employed for a while spinning and hyping this suit.
Hmmm….and I thought the title of the book wasn’t Jessie Hears a Who but that “Jessie Hires a Ho”….
BIL,
“The only good thing Jesse Jackson ever did in my book . . . ”
lmao
The only good thing Jesse Jackson ever did in my book . . .
AY,
You are on fire today!
I am not the biggest Jesse Jackson fan, Sr. or Jr., but I smell a rat here.
This story may not suck as bad as it sounds…
It sounds to me like Tommy Bennett wouldn’t be giving interviews and risking a defamation suit if he wasn’t sure that he could withstand a defamation lawsuit.
The idea that a politician can just do whatever he wants to hurt people is B.S.
Mike Royko famously called him “Jesse Jetstream”. He’s gotten more statesmanlike in the last 15 years and attracted serious attention from serious people like Garry Wills, but he also has a long history of changing positions (e.g., abortion) and making inflammatory statements that were anti-semetic or misogynistic. I thought Rainbow/PUSH went out of business long ago. certainly, there were questions regarding financial propriety.
I guess Jesse doesn’t think he got enough heat over “HymieTown” so he had to come up with something as equally stupid and outrageous.
I don’t get the feeling either Jackson or Sharpton are on Obama’s A list. They’re more like the guests your mother made you invite.
I, too, never liked him but he should have his chance to respond to those accusations.
I have always viewed Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as “Attention Whores”.
I just wish they would go away quietly and let other people who does truly work hard to bring equality and diversity in our life in more positive way.