The Homestead Heritage lawsuit is a federal defamation case filed in September 2024 by the religious community near Waco, Texas, against Heidi Feek — the daughter of country singer Rory Feek — along with journalist Carena Elizabeth Liptak and Townsquare Media Inc., which operates the country music site Taste of Country. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, alleges the defendants spread false claims about the community and seeks at least $250,000 in compensatory damages and a jury trial.1Justia. Heritage Ministries et al v. Feek et al2AOL. Rory Feek Daughter Heidi Sued The case is open and in discovery as of late 2025.
Who Is Suing Whom, and for What
The suit was filed on September 16, 2024, as case number 3:24-cv-01267, and assigned to Judge Liles C. Burke. The original plaintiffs were Heritage Ministries (doing business as Homestead Heritage), Heritage Barns LLC (doing business as Heritage Restorations), and three individual community members: Daniel, Matthew, and Brian Brandstadt. The defendants are Heidi Caroline Feek, Carena Elizabeth Liptak (an associate editor and staff writer at Taste of Country), and Townsquare Media Inc.3CourtListener. Heritage Ministries v. Feek1Justia. Heritage Ministries et al v. Feek et al
The case proceeds under diversity jurisdiction, with claims categorized as assault, libel, and slander. Homestead Heritage’s complaint also included unjust enrichment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false-light invasion of privacy. The complaint itself acknowledges the 2005 conviction of former member Bill DeLong and the conviction of Joseph Ratliff, but the community maintains its leadership was instrumental in bringing those perpetrators to justice.2AOL. Rory Feek Daughter Heidi Sued
What Heidi Feek Said
Rory Feek, half of the Grammy-winning duo Joey + Rory, remarried in July 2023 after the 2016 death of his first wife, Joey. He and his new wife, Rebecca, joined Homestead Heritage around the time of their marriage and are raising his youngest daughter Indiana, born in 2014 with Down syndrome.4Rory Feek Substack. Revival When the couple left for their honeymoon in the summer of 2024, Indiana was placed in the care of families within the community. That arrangement alarmed Rory’s two eldest daughters from a previous marriage, Heidi and Hopie Feek.2AOL. Rory Feek Daughter Heidi Sued
Heidi, who lives in Florence, Alabama, took to social media to describe the arrangement as placing Indiana in an “inappropriate place” and alleged that Homestead Heritage has a “troubling history of child abuse.”2AOL. Rory Feek Daughter Heidi Sued She and Hopie launched a GoFundMe called “The Fight for Indy’s Safety” to fund both a challenge to Indiana’s custodial arrangement and their defense against the defamation suit; it had raised roughly $13,500 of a $100,000 goal as of the most recent available data.5GoFundMe. The Fight for Indy’s Safety Liptak’s Taste of Country coverage, including an August 2024 article, amplified Heidi’s allegations about child abuse within the community.6Taste of Country. Rory Feek Response Heidi Feek Abuse
In a September 2024 Instagram video, Heidi called the lawsuit an “attempt to scare us into submission” but said it “didn’t work,” adding that she hoped the case would “open the door for others to share their stories.”2AOL. Rory Feek Daughter Heidi Sued7NBC Bay Area. Country Singer Rory Feek Denies Cult Ties8People. Rory Feek Responds to Family Legal Threats Rory has barred Heidi and Hopie from contacting Indiana, citing “differing worldviews.”
Where the Case Stands
In November 2024, Townsquare Media and Liptak filed an answer to the complaint and a separate motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The court granted the plaintiffs limited jurisdictional discovery in April 2025, and by May 2025 Townsquare and Liptak withdrew the motion, conceding jurisdiction and keeping the case in Alabama.3CourtListener. Heritage Ministries v. Feek
Also in spring 2025, Country Mutual Insurance Company intervened in the case. The docket does not specify which party it insures or the nature of any coverage question. In May 2025, the court entered a discovery confidentiality order at Heidi Feek’s request, protecting sensitive materials exchanged during discovery.3CourtListener. Heritage Ministries v. Feek
The plaintiffs sought leave to amend their complaint in July 2025, and the court granted the motion in August. The amended complaint, filed August 8, 2025, dropped the three Brandstadt individuals as plaintiffs, leaving only Heritage Ministries and Heritage Barns LLC to pursue the case against all three defendants. The public docket does not explain the reason for removing the individual plaintiffs.3CourtListener. Heritage Ministries v. Feek
As of the last available docket activity in late 2025, no summary judgment motions had been filed and no trial date had been set.3CourtListener. Heritage Ministries v. Feek
The Parallel Custody Fight
A separate custody proceeding runs alongside the defamation suit. In early September 2024, Heidi filed legal documents in Columbia, Tennessee, seeking changes to Indiana’s custodial arrangement.2AOL. Rory Feek Daughter Heidi Sued A trial began January 13, 2026, but was suspended almost immediately after Heidi’s attorneys requested a continuance. The court lifted a gag order the following day. In a blog post, Rory called the custody fight an attempt “to destroy my reputation, financially hurt us, and have the state take her little sister away from us.”9Rory Feek Substack. A Trying Time The custody case has no publicly reported resolution. In early 2026, Rory, Rebecca, and Indiana relocated from Tennessee to the Homestead Heritage community in Waco, which Rory described as a temporary move of “six months or so.”10Rory Feek Substack. Why We Moved to Texas
What Homestead Heritage Is
Homestead Heritage is an intentional Christian community based on a 510-acre farm called Brazos de Dios near Waco, Texas. It was founded in 1973 in Manhattan by Blair Adams and his wife, Regina, as an inner-city mission called “Voice in the Wilderness,” and later relocated to Texas. Today it comprises roughly 190 families — close to 1,000 people — with about a quarter living on the communal property and the rest on nearby private land. Families maintain financial independence, and the group operates under a plural-leadership model rather than a single pastor.11Homestead Heritage. FAQ12Homestead Heritage. Blair Adams13SBS Dateline. This Christian Community
The Abuse Allegations Behind the Dispute
The community’s public profile has been shaped by a series of child sexual abuse prosecutions involving its members. A 2012 investigation by the Texas Observer identified several cases:
- Bill DeLong confessed in June 2004 to sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl. He told authorities he had disclosed the abuse to church elder George Klingensmith a year earlier, but no report was made to police during that time.
- Joseph Ratliff was convicted in 2009 of aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child and sentenced to 100 years in prison (reported as 99 years in some accounts).
- Andrew DeLong, Bill DeLong’s son, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault involving two minors and was sentenced to 15 years.
- Richard Santamaria was charged in July 2011 with continuous sexual abuse of a minor.
McLennan County officials declined to prosecute Klingensmith for the delayed reporting, citing the need for his cooperation in other cases.14Texas Observer. Heritage of Abuse By 2013, according to SBS Dateline, seven additional members had been convicted of child sexual abuse, with many cases involving incest.13SBS Dateline. This Christian Community
Former members have described a highly controlled environment. The Texas Observer reported that one former member, identified by the pseudonym “Sandy,” said she was sexually abused by two men starting at age five; when she reported it to an elder, she alleged she was told to accept responsibility for her role in what the elder called “immoral relationships,” and the perpetrators were expelled from the community rather than reported to police.14Texas Observer. Heritage of Abuse15The Independent. Homestead Heritage Religion Escape Tabitha Haugh, a former member, told The Independent that she worked four days a week starting at age 13 but was not paid until age 19. Internal documents obtained by the Texas Observer stated that religious matters are not “the proper province” of the state or police, and new members were required to sign a notarized resolution promising never to bring public charges or lawsuits against the community.
The Community’s Response
Homestead Heritage has consistently denied covering up abuse. It maintains a dedicated response website with point-by-point rebuttals to reporting by the Texas Observer, WFAA, The Independent, and Taste of Country.16Homestead Heritage Response. Comments On the delayed reporting of Bill DeLong’s abuse, the community has acknowledged a “delay of about a year” but framed it as a “good faith effort to honor the confidential confession of a sin” by an elder who was unaware of mandatory reporting laws at the time. It asserts it “exposed and reported all cases of sexual abuse” and cooperated fully with law enforcement, noting that in several cases the perpetrators turned themselves in.17Homestead Heritage Response. Response to Observer Spokesperson Josiah Wheeler has called media reports and former-member accounts “slanderous” and “subjective,” the product of “bitter” individuals, and described the group as an “open, thriving church family.”15The Independent. Homestead Heritage Religion Escape
That tension between the community’s account and former members’ accounts is the core factual dispute the defamation suit will turn on. Whether Heidi Feek’s social media statements and Taste of Country’s reporting constitute protected speech or actionable defamation is a question the Alabama federal court has yet to resolve.
A Second Lawsuit Against The Independent
In August 2025, Heritage Ministries filed a separate suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas against Independent Digital News & Media, Ltd., publisher of the British newspaper The Independent. That case, 6:25-cv-00364, is open and has already produced an amended complaint and a second amended complaint as of October 2025. The specific claims are not detailed in available court records, but the suit follows the paper’s reporting on life inside Homestead Heritage.18UniCourt. Heritage Ministries v. Independent Digital News and Media Ltd It is a separate action from the Alabama case against Heidi Feek.