Two of the four accusers in the Bishop Eddie L. Long sex scandal revealed that the four young men are going to write a tell-all book that details every aspect of the illicit affairs.
Almost instantaneously, several questions sprout and ricochet through your brain, such as: Do they realize the legal and financial consequences for violating an agreement barring them from disclosing any information about the alleged sexual affairs and the settlement? Is the ultimate motivation to procure even more money than what has already made them relatively wealthy young men? Do they want even more fame?
None of the above, according to Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande, two of Long’s accusers. The proposed book is a cathartic way for them to exorcise the demons that continue to haunt them, long after the alleged affairs took place. Parris, for one, just received probation after being arrested and jailed in Miami Beach, Fla., on drug possession and suspicion of distribution.
“I thought I could cover the pain up. I thought I could move, start over and everything would go away,” Jamal Parris told Atlanta sources in an interview this week, admitting the settlement and lawsuit were not enough. “I was terribly wrong. I’m living a lifestyle meant to crash.”
Parris and LeGrande were two of four men in a lawsuit filed against Bishop Eddie Long and his church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in suburban Atlanta. After the months-long mediation period concluded, a fifth man was later discovered to have had a prominent role in a settlement deal that allegedly netted each accuser millions of dollars.
LeGrande admits that he jeopardizes that large stack of cash if he comes out with a book.
“I’m going to tell the world – money does not buy happiness. When you sleep at night, the problems are still there. The money stuff, who cares about the number,” LeGrande says. “You ain’t ready for the secrets. I don’t care if this book sells one copy. But if it’s just for me, this is what my life looked like, this is my voice for the first time.”
Bishop Eddie Long had not released a statement regarding this update. -terry shropshire
