Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 30, 2003
"I've been around a lot of drag queens," said Messner, the former wife of televangelist Jim Bakker. "I see myself a lot. And they do a better job of me than I do."
Messner has three words in response to those who think ill of her - "not true" and "onward."
She knows many people believe she played a critical role in the financial scandal that sent her ex-husband to prison in 1989. She knows her public persona - which includes heavy makeup and sometimes loopy behavior - has made her a walking punch line at times.
Messner doesn't care. She's remarried, moved to the Charlotte area and begun work on a Christian variety show that she hopes to syndicate.
Messner says she tries not to judge others, believing she herself was condemned harshly and wrongly during Bakker's teleministry corruption scandal.
She says the truth wasn't told in court and that people took advantage of Bakker during that time. She declined to elaborate "because that's yesterday and today is today."
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