Pat Robertson allegedly threatens to kill Texas bodybuilder and family

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 12:42 PM on February 9, 2007.

This should qualify as Friday's tabloid post.

Same old story. Bodybuilder loses 200 lbs through use of "age-defying" televangelist-sponsored diet shake. Bodybuilder contacts televangelist, Pat Robertson, to push the shake to health-conscious Christians. Televangelist winds up using image and story of bodybuilder for financial gain, telling bodybuilder to buzz off when he learns that it wasn't such a philanthropic, slimming-for-Jesus project after all.

After offering the recipe for free on the 700 Club, Robertson ended up licensing the shakes and selling them at GNC. Bodybuilder Phil Busch commented:

"This was never about weight loss; it was all about money... They only had my photographs because I thought 'The 700 Club' was trying to help others and because I knew CBN was a non-profit. Had I known Robertson and his corporate buddies were making money using my pictures, I would have handled everything differently."

That was all back in 2005. Now, as the trial is headed to court, Busch contends that Robertson threatened him: "I am going to kill you and your family."

Robertson's attorney denies the allegation.

Those interested in learning more about the shakes go here.

Tagged as: religious right, pat robertson

Evan Derkacz is an AlterNet editor. He writes and edits PEEK, the blog of blogs.