Ex-Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz’s wife learned the truth about his “inappropriate relationship” with their nanny on a Zoom call in “front of everyone,” she said in a new documentary series.
FX’sThe Secrets of Hillsong, which chronicles thescandals of the famous megachurchand premieres Friday, features the first interviews with the couple since they were forced out of the church in 2020 for Carl’s “moral failures,” with the former pastor later publiclyadmitting to infidelity.
In the series' second episode,Laura Lentzrecalled her shock upon first learning from her husband that he’d “been unfaithful.”
Earlier that month, Hillsong leadership was informed that “incriminating text messages” had been found from Carl to a woman named Ranin Karim, according to the documentary. Karim later identified herselfas his alleged mistressin an interview withVanity Fairpublished weeks after his firing.
“It was Oct. 25 [2020],” Laura said during theSecrets of Hillsongepisode. “Carl was like, ‘Hey, can I talk to you for a second?’ As soon as he shut the door…my heart just dropped.”
“She wasn’t mad; she was just so broken,” Carl added, admitting that he “wasn’t even fully honest” at the time.
Then, on a Zoom call with the couple, board members and church founderBrian Houston, who went on toresign in 2022amid complaints that he behaved inappropriately towards two women, questioned Carl about his relationship with their family’s nanny, Leona Kimes, also a church member.
“He hadn’t told me this part yet,” Laura said in the episode.
Laura Lentz.FX
Although Kimes had been a trusted part of the family, she was “always” at the house, and Laura had suspected something was happening.
“I’d sometimes get these little feelings. And then one night, I found them in a compromising position,” she said. “I was angry, and I definitely freaked out.”
But afterward, Laura said Kimes denied doing anything wrong, and they “never talked about it again.”
But on the Zoom call, “the truth came out there in front of everyone,” she said: “another affair.”
“So my feelings about that situation for a long time were actually true,” Laura said in the episode, sharing that she “had to move off of the screen because I was devastated.”
“Out of everything that I’ve had to deal with, I’ve had to process that situation probably the most,” she remarked.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Addressing her allegations in the second episode, Carl said, “I am responsible for allowing an inappropriate relationship to develop in my house with someone that worked for us.” However, he claimed that “any notion of abuse is categorically false.”
Carl Lentz.FX
In an update on social media last week, Carl shared that the couple — who are still together and recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary — decided to take part in the documentary as"part of the healing" process.
“For the last 3 yearsmy entire focus has been fighting for my wife and my kids,” Lentz, who said he is no longer preaching, wrote in the social media post. “Although we have a long way to go, with a lot of work, a lot of honesty, and a lot of prayer, we have found ourselves in a beautiful, happy and deliberately honest place.”
The Secrets of Hillsongepisodes 1-2 premiere on FX on Friday and will be available to stream on Hulu the following day. Episodes 3-4 will premiere on May 26.
source: people.com
