Peter Popoff - Scamming us again!

 Why was Peter Popoff, the often discredited religious fraud artist allowed to buy air time on CHCH-TV Channel-11 in Hamilton, Ontario in 1999? His shows were broadcast at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

ON-TV was at the time the parent of CHCH-TV, and was in reality the television arm of WIC Western International Communications. They were then swallowed up by CORUS Entertainment group. Their radio network is Canada's largest, and before the Corus takeover, WIC stations were noted for their outrageous anti-medical and pro-quackery shows all week long. They still run paid for programming and informercials for products that make dubious claims.

Popoff's supporters

This space is empty because frankly we can't find any.

Why is Peter Popoff a crook and a fraud?

  • The investigation of Peter Popoff - Why is this religious fraud still on TV????

    • Why do many Pentecostals think he is saved and that the Holy Spirit is performing miracles through him? This is the place for viewing the Real Video of the fraud as exposed by the Great James Randi.

  • Non-healing a non-existent tumor - Gary D. Posner's excellent review of what happens when gullible parents believed Popoff about a "brain tumor" in their daughter Amanda

  • Controversial healing evangelist, Peter Popoff, is rebuilding his media empire on an African-American network channel. After losing credibility and most of his funding as a result of an expose by skeptical magician James Randi, who showed that Popoff's "word of wisdom" about his audience's diseases was less than supernatural (Popoff's wife fed him information via hidden microphones; the information *didn't* come from the Holy Spirit), Popoff has found renewed success and financial income by appearing on the Black Entertainment Network. (Source: Washington Post, September 3, 1998. The original source is now a dead link at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-09/03/2711-090398-idx.html -- if you want to pay for it, you can go to http://www.northernlight.com and do a search for Peter Popoff.

  • The ups and downs of Televangelism in America -- lots of goodies here, not just Popoff

    The 1985-86 Peter Popoff Scandal Peter Popoff was born in 1946 in Upland, California
    Dramatic faith-healer with a weekly television show
    In 1985 he came to nation-wide attention with his campaign to raise money in order to smuggle Bibles into the Soviet Union - his plan was to tie Bibles to hot air balloons and let them drift into the Soviet Union (Billy James Hargis had a similar plan earlier employing helium balloons - his plan was also not tried).
    When his plan was found to be completely impractical, he had to account for the fact that the money had been spent - he staged a burglary on his own headquarters and tearfully begged for more money and time to repair the damage done.
    James Randi, a magician who enjoyed revealing hoaxes, exposed the "healing" methods Popoff employed in his meetings - people completed cards before the program detailing their illnesses - the cards were then read to find the most "curable" illnesses - Mrs. Popoff would then broadcast to her husband over a listening device in his ear whom to select and what their problem was.
    In 1986 Johnny Carson exposed the whole deal on The Tonight Show and Popoff was finished.
    In 1990 he was still on the air hosting a daily show but had virtually no audience - few showed up for his tent services either.
    The 1992 film Leap of Faith starring Steve Martin, Debra Winger, and Liam Neeson owed much to Popoff.

  • Television Evangelism Investigations -- Television, for all its faults, does one thing well. It looks into the soul of a society or community and amplifies and highlights whatever is hidden there, whatever is lurking beneath the cliches and the values people give lip service to. What television has exposed at the root of our society, and especially in the American church, is paganism-- personified in the televangelists.

  • Panned Popoff Link Here is the final resting place for Mr. "earphone" who is still in business even after being exposed as a fake. He has sent me numerous "words" from the Lord and healing clothes and other charismatic trinkets which are now part of our ministries "wall of shame." Here is the former "Rogue of the Month" article on this Fake-Healer:

  • Gallery of Gimmicks Here is a small picture gallery of some of the magical trinkets and amulets that "God's" profit has used in his promotions. He was exposed as a fraud by James Randi on the Johnny Carson show many years ago. That exposure almost stopped his ungodly manipulation of God's people, however, he has made somewhat of a con-back and can be seen on BET (Black Entertainment Television) and small cable channels early in the morning (usually from 2:00 am until around 6:00 am). That man is despicable and is one of the few people ICCDM would state is very likely a tare sown among the wheat of God. James Randi's book "The Faith Healers" has an excellent chapter devoted to this liar and fraud.

Peter Popoff Web site

Hey folks -- it don't work. Most of the links are DEAD -- just like his religion

  • Home page -- Beyond the negative articles published on the Internet by desperate, anti-God men who are trying to make a name for themselves, most people might overlook the MIGHTY anointing of the Holy Spirit that rests upon Peter Popoff and his ministry. In their atheistic, but futile, quest to disprove the miraculous, these miss-directed men have totally missed this key element in Peter Popoff's life and ministry.

Canadian broadcast media and government resources for complaints

I suggest that you go to several of the following links to complain about this fraudulent religious goof-ball, and send copies of all your correspondence to the station itself using the links above.

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council Links

The CBSC provides the following lists of websites which it hopes may be of interest and utility to visitors and the direct e-mail address of the Council's National Chair and Executive Director. These are followed by a list of all of the CBSC members and their websites of which we are currently aware. They are divided into Television, Specialty and Radio lists and, within each, members are separately listed by province and city. Both the membership and website lists are, of course, organic. They grow and change from day to day. If you have information regarding changes or additional links, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Government

Associations

WIC tidbits

  • WIC executives earn $10 million in stock options -- John Lacey and other senior executives of WIC Western International Communications made profits of nearly $10.7 million from their stock options last year. Lacey, a specialist in jacking up share prices before a company is sold or taken over, was hired by WIC in 1996 after it had staved off an initial hostile takeover attempt by CanWest Global Communications of Winnipeg. WIC's shares were trading at about $18 then.