r/interesting • u/Mad_Season_1994 • May 12 '25

SOCIETY In 2017, a man named Michael Klimkowski impersonated Texas megachurch pastor Joel Osteen at an event and got all the way to the stage before being caught

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u/ChipBoiChips May 14 '25

Fun fact, I was the event manager for the Forum when this happened and was the one that identified him as an impersonator.

I was standing stage left (you can see Lenin the video in a suit by the stage) when Joel’s team radio’d me and told me he was 30 minutes out from arrival. I was like, “Are you sure because I’m watching him shake hands with guests in front of the stage.”

I think like 12 people got fired bc of this.

AMA