Victoria Osteen

Victoria Osteen is the wife of Joel Osteen and co-pastor with him of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.

In December 2005, Mrs. Osteen made headlines when she was removed from a Continental Airlines flight and subsequently fined $3,000 by the FAA. A jury dismissed the lawsuit filed by flight attendant Sharon Brown in August 2008, after three other passengers and the pilot all testified that they did not witness any assault.¹

Controversy

On December 19, 2005, the Osteen family was removed from a plane flight because of an altercation between Victoria Osteen and flight attendant Sharon Brown. According to reports, a spilled drink on Mrs. Osteen's seat was not cleaned to her satisfaction, resulting in her being upset. After confronting Brown about the issue (which delayed the plane's take-off), the Osteens were asked to leave the plane. Brown filed a lawsuit against Mrs. Osteen, claiming she was assaulted during the disruption, but a jury dismissed the case in August of 2008.¹

Trial

During opening statements on August 7, 2008, Osteen's lawyer Rusty Hardin stated the lawsuit was "nothing more than attempted extortion," claiming Osteen never harmed Brown in any way. According to the Houston Chronicle, Brown is seeking "ten percent of Osteen's net worth" in the trial.⁴

Brown claims that Osteen "threw her against a bathroom door," "elbowed her in the left breast" and "tried to get into the cockpit" before being restrained. Reginald McKamie, Brown's attorney, said his client was "attacked" while "simply doing her job."¹

In her testimony, Brown's co-worker Maria Johnson supported Brown's claims, but was accused by Hardin for playing the "race card" after implying Osteen "acted racist" during the altercation.⁵