Fmr. SBC Pres. Johnny Hunt renews legal battle against denomination

Former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt has renewed his legal battle against various SBC entities, days after the last of his claims had been rejected in court.

Attorneys for Hunt filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday for multiple decisions leveled against him in recent years, according to Baptist Press, the denomination's official news service.

“We will review the appeal and respond appropriately as we work toward resolving this matter,” said SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg in a statement to Baptist Press.

In May 2022, Guidepost Solutions released a report documenting its investigation into allegations that SBC leaders intimidated whistleblowers and exonerated congregations that were facing credible claims of abuse.

Hunt was named in the report, which documented that the wife of a younger pastor accused him of assaulting her in 2010. In response, First Baptist Church Woodstock in Georgia suspended Hunt in June 2022 from his role as pastor emeritus. Hunt returned to the pulpit in January 2023 at Hiland Park Baptist Church of Panama City, Florida.

In March 2023, Hunt sued the convention, the SBC's Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions, accusing them of "defamation/libel, defamation/libel per se, invasion of privacy, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and public disclosure of private embarrassing facts."

Regarding the 2010 incident, Hunt claimed that it was a "brief, inappropriate, extramarital encounter with a married woman" that "involved only kissing and some awkward fondling" and "should not have been published at all."

"This was a private failing by Pastor Johnny and the woman involved, and the story should have ended there. But it didn't," stated the complaint. "By focusing on the allegation against Pastor Johnny — an allegation by an adult woman that involved noncriminal conduct — and by then taking aggressive action against Pastor Johnny, the Defendants sought to create the appearance that the SBC has learned from its previous mistakes and is now working to protect victims of sex crimes."

In March 2025, Chief U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell for the Middle District of Tennessee's Nashville Division dismissed all but one of Hunt’s claims against the SBC entities.

The one remaining claim centered on a tweet by former SBC President Bart Barber in December 2022 that Hunt's attorneys had argued he "intentionally and maliciously created the false impression that Pastor Johnny is a sex criminal."

Last week, Campbell dismissed Hunt's last claim, issuing a final summary judgment in which the judge concluded that “Hunt does not have evidence that the Tweet (or any of the publications) was made with actual malice.”