Woman claims Pastor Jamal Bryant is absent father to son born out of wedlock

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Friday, June 12, 2026

Megachurch Pastor Jamal Bryant, who claims to be an advocate for black men being present in the lives of their children, has allegedly been an absent father to a son he allegedly sired with a woman during a massage session just over 10 years ago.

The woman, Latoya Shawntee Odom, 44, alleges in a video clip from an interview with online personality Tasha K that Bryant, who leads the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, “never has been” present for their nearly 11-year-old son, John Karston Bryant, who was born in July 2015.

When asked if she gets child support, Odom stated, “The last payment I received was $96.”

“And John loves him [Bryant]. One day, he told me, he said, ‘Mommy, I love you, and I love my daddy,’” she recalled.

“John really believes his daddy. This is what he said at 2 [years old]. He said, ‘Mommy, I want to go see my daddy.’ So, I dressed him up at 2. He [Pastor Bryant] was in Atlanta. And I took him [son]. Do you know Jamal never touched him? Just looked at him. They had a staring contest,” she said.

When contacted for comment on Odom’s claims on Friday, a spokesperson for Bryant could not immediately respond.

In 2016, while he was still the lead pastor of Northwest Baltimore's Empowerment Temple Church, Odom presented a DNA test allegedly showing that Bryant is 99.9999% John's father. The paternity test was conducted by LB Genetics and sent to Odom on Aug. 12, 2015. It was alleged that Bryant had asked her to get an abortion.

Tasha K notes in the online video that the full interview with Odom will be released on Father’s Day. 

Bryant is known for frequently using Father's Day to honor the legacy of his father, Bishop John Bryant, and to share powerful, direct messages calling on black men to stand on the front lines for their families and communities.

He is also well-known for preaching on the necessity of active, present fathers in the black community, noting their impact on preventing violence, keeping children in school and building strong communities.

When it comes to John Karston Bryant, however, Odom says the elder Bryant doesn't practice what he preaches.

She recalled how she first met the megachurch pastor and alleged they had unprotected sex in their first intimate encounter.

“He befriends me on MySpace and then I start looking into all of his little profile. I was like, ‘Oh, he's married.” He just asked me to be his massage therapist. So, I'm trying to figure out the two and two, like, ‘What is going on?’ And he was like, ‘Well, I'm going through a divorce,’” Odom recalled.

“He's like, ‘I want to get a massage. Come to the hotel. I'll pay you whatever, and I'm going to church tonight. This is when it gets crazy. He said I seduced him,” she continued. “Next thing I know, clothes coming off. So, we have sex.”