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Victoria Osteen Testifies In Civil Trial

Joel Osteen Called As 'Hostile Witness'

POSTED: Friday, August 8, 2008
UPDATED: 5:52 pm CDT August 8, 2008

The wife of renowned pastor Joel Osteen testified that she did not yell at or assault a Continental Airlines flight attendant over a spill on her first-class seat.


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  • On The Beat With Mary Benton

    Victoria Osteen said Friday she was dumbfounded that Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown accused her of assaulting her before the start of a 2005 flight to Vail, Colorado. She was called as a witness Friday in the civil trial of a lawsuit Brown filed against her.

    Brown alleges in her suit that Victoria Osteen attacked her when she didn't get her way after a small spill on her seat wasn't quickly cleaned up. But Victoria Osteen testified that it was Brown who became upset.

    Victoria Osteen said when she first told a flight attendant about the spill, she was handed some napkins and responded, "It's not my job. I didn't say it in an ugly tone of voice."

    Victoria Osteen said she's a "touchy person," but denied Johnson's claim that she later grabbed Johnson and pulled her in order to have her see the spill.

    Victoria Osteen said she tends to talk with her hands. She said that when she was talking with Brown, her sunglasses were in her hand but that she did not point them at the flight attendant.

    Victoria Osteen told jurors that Brown's response was to fling her hands at her and accuse her of pointing and pushing the flight attendant.

    "It freaked me out. I asked a simple question," she said.

    Brown claims in her lawsuit that after pushing her, Victoria Osteen tried to get into the cockpit.

    Victoria Osteen denied that, telling jurors she just wanted to get away from the situation.

    "I was already freaked out because she was accusing me of stuff I didn't do," she said. "I was dumbfounded."

    Victoria Osteen said she told Brown, "If I've done something to offend you, I'm sorry," then got some napkins and went back and cleaned up the spill.

    Victoria Osteen described herself as a very friendly people-person.

    "I love people. I'm guilty of that," Victoria Osteen said.

    Joel Osteen testified earlier Friday, supporting his wife's claim and calling the incident an unfortunate misunderstanding.

    The Osteen's were both called as witnesses by Brown's attorney.

    Joel Osteen told jurors that his wife never assaulted Brown.

    Sharon Brown alleges in a civil lawsuit that Victoria Osteen assaulted her during a Dec. 19, 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo., by throwing her against an airplane bathroom door. She also alleges Osteen elbowed her in the left breast.

    Joel Osteen was questioned about the liquid that was allegedly on his wife's seat. He maintained a calm demeanor during testimony.

    Joel Osteen told the jury that he never saw his wife hit or shove Brown.

    During nearly two hours of testimony, Joel Osteen, who was on the same flight, said the incident was "an unfortunate misunderstanding" stemming from his wife's requests for flight attendants to clean up a spill on the armrest of her first-class seat.

    "We would never disrespect authority or disrespect (Brown). There's no way in the world," Victoria Osteen assaulted Brown, said Joel Osteen, who was called to the witness stand by Brown's attorney, Reginald McKamie.

    Joel and Victoria Osteen are co-pastors of Houston's Lakewood Church, which draws about 42,000 people each week for services. Joel Osteen's weekly television address is broadcast nationally and internationally and who has written books that have been sold around the globe.

    On Thursday, another flight attendant on the plane, Maria Johnson, testified that Victoria Osteen demanded special attention to clean up the small spill. When she didn't get her way, Osteen became verbally and physically abusive to both flight attendants, eventually grabbing Brown by the shoulders, elbowing her in the chest and pushing her out of the way in an attempt to get into the cockpit, Johnson testified.

    But Joel Osteen disputed Johnson's testimony, saying his wife never raised her voice or grabbed the flight attendants. However, later he admitted to McKamie that he could not hear his wife's voice from his seat.

    McKamie also asked Joel Osteen why he said in one of his religious messages that if it wasn't for him, his wife would be in prison.

    Osteen said he meant it to be a comical statement about the differences between him and his wife, that he likes routine and considers himself boring while his wife is outgoing and likes to go to new restaurants and new places.

    "You don't go to jail because you like different restaurants, do you?" McKamie asked, as the packed courtroom laughed.

    "No sir," Joel Osteen said.

    Osteen remained calm while on the stand, even making a joke when McKamie moved chairs around in the room to try and recreate the first-class cabin for the jury.

    "That looks like super first-class," Joel Osteen said of the wide space between the chairs.

    McKamie also asked Osteen whether his family was used to getting special treatment, making reference to an anecdote in one of the pastor's books in which he wrote about being allowed to take an expensive television camera onboard a flight to India even though it was against the rules.

    "You feel that you're entitled to the favor of God ... to do things other people can't do," McKamie said.

    "All of God's children are," Osteen said.

    Brown has claimed the flight attendants asked to have Victoria Osteen removed from the plane, but Joel Osteen testified he and his family left voluntarily.

    The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.

    Joel Osteen said his wife did not want to pay the fine but he convinced her to do so because he thought it would be a way to put the incident behind them even though they felt they did nothing wrong.

    "I think there's a lot at stake for them because they have an image of being above everything," McKamie said. "This is showing that they're not. On this particular day, it's just showing that Victoria Osteen was out of control."

    Johnson testified Thursday that both she and Brown were professional and courteous toward Victoria Osteen as they told her a crew had been called to clean up the unknown liquid. Johnson described the spill as being the size of a 50-cent piece.

    Johnson told jurors that Victoria Osteen kept saying: "This is ridiculous. I'm a first-class passenger."

    "This is nothing more than an attempted extortion," Rusty Hardin, Victoria Osteen's attorney, told jurors during opening statements Thursday.

    "Victoria Osteen never attacked her, never tried to get in the cockpit," Hardin said. "The aggressor and the person who was out of control, who flipped out, was Ms. Brown."

    McKamie said Brown is suing Victoria Osteen to, "hold her accountable for her actions."

    The FAA report states that Osteen asked another flight attendant to clean a liquid on her first-class seat armrest. When that attendant said she would get another flight attendant, Osteen grabbed a second flight attendant and took her to the seat, the report said. The second attendant said she would call cleaning personnel and headed to the cockpit, the FAA said. Osteen followed her and came across Brown, whom she pushed and elbowed in the left breast in an attempt to get to the cockpit, according to the report.

    McKamie said Brown, who had undergone reconstructive surgery before the incident on her breasts due to illness, was injured when she was hit on her chest. Brown also suffers from anxiety because of the incident and that her faith was affected, her attorney said.

    Brown is also suing Victoria Osteen for medical expenses for counseling.

    McKamie said Brown wants an apology and wants to punish Victoria Osteen with punitive damages amounting to 10 percent of her net worth.

    Victoria Osteen was not charged in criminal court.

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