The Johnny Hunt lawsuit is largely over. On March 31, 2025, a federal judge dismissed nearly every claim the former Southern Baptist Convention president had brought against the SBC, its Executive Committee, and the investigative firm Guidepost Solutions. One count survives: a defamation claim tied to a December 2022 social media post by Bart Barber, who was then SBC president. Trial on that single count has been rescheduled for September 22, 2026.{1Baptist Press. Legal Digest: Trial Dates Set in Hunt, Sills Lawsuits}
What Hunt Sued Over
In 2021, SBC messengers voted to commission an independent investigation into how denomination leaders had handled sexual abuse claims over the prior two decades. Guidepost Solutions conducted that review, and on May 22, 2022, released a nearly 300-page report. One of its findings was an allegation that Hunt had sexually assaulted the wife of another SBC pastor on July 25, 2010, at a condo in Panama City Beach, Florida.{2Religion News Service. SBC Abuse Report: For Decades, Southern Baptist Leaders Denied Abuse}
The report described the couple as “credible” and said their account was “corroborated in part by a counseling minister and three other credible witnesses.” Investigators wrote that they “did not find Dr. Hunt’s statements related to the sexual assault allegation to be credible.”{3The Baptist Paper. Guidepost Solutions Independent Investigation Report}
Hunt resigned from his post at the North American Mission Board on May 13, 2022, days before the report’s release. In a public statement, he said: “To put it bluntly: I vigorously deny the circumstances and characterizations set forth in the Guidepost report. I have never abused anybody.”{4The Alabama Baptist. Hunt Denies Allegations; This and More From Guidepost Report} His account of the encounter shifted during the investigation and in a later deposition, where he claimed the woman had “stalked and seduced” him and described the contact as consensual, while admitting to “awkwardly fondling” her.{5Christian Post. Johnny Hunt Says Pastor’s Wife Stalked, Seduced Him}
On March 17, 2023, Hunt filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (Case No. 3:23-cv-00243), naming the SBC, the Executive Committee, and Guidepost Solutions as defendants. The complaint alleged defamation, invasion of privacy (false light), public disclosure of embarrassing private facts, and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.{6CourtListener. Hunt v. Southern Baptist Convention} Hunt’s lawyers argued the report had “ruined his reputation” and that what they characterized as a pastor’s private sin was “no one else’s business.”{7Christianity Today. Southern Baptist Convention Lawsuit Abuse Report Johnny Hunt}
How Much Hunt Sought
Damage claims grew during litigation. In amended July 2024 filings, Hunt’s lawyers claimed more than $105 million. The economic portion totaled roughly $15.4 million in lost income and benefits, calculated on the premise that Hunt would have worked another 11 years at NAMB at what he stated was a $610,000 annual salary, plus $3.96 million in lost book sales, $3.85 million in lost speaking fees, and $880,000 in other income. On top of that, Hunt sought up to $45 million for reputational harm and $45 million for emotional distress.{8Baptist News Global. New Date Set for Johnny Hunt Trial}{9Baptist Message. Hunt Reveals $610,000 Salary, Seeks Millions in Relief} NAMB later pushed back on the salary figure, saying “no one at NAMB — now or at any time — has ever been paid anywhere near as much as the salary amount that is being speculated online.”{10Religion News Service. Settlement Talks With Johnny Hunt Fail}
Judge William Campbell Jr. ordered the parties into mediation, and a September 19, 2024, session ended in impasse. SBC President Clint Pressley confirmed on X: “Despite what you may be hearing, there is no settlement with Dr. Johnny Hunt.”{11Baptist News Global. No Settlement Reached Between Johnny Hunt and SBC}
The March 2025 Ruling
Judge Campbell issued a 74-page opinion granting summary judgment on nearly every count. Every claim against Guidepost Solutions was dismissed. Every claim against the SBC and its Executive Committee was dismissed except one.{12Religion News Service. Judge Rules in Favor of Guidepost and SBC in Johnny Hunt Lawsuit}
The judge rejected Hunt’s claim that Guidepost had acted negligently, citing “substantial evidence of the thoroughness of the investigation” and noting that Hunt had failed to produce evidence supporting his own claims. The court also found that Guidepost had given Hunt an opportunity to respond during the investigation and that he “squandered” the additional time provided.{13MinistryWatch. Judge Rules Against Former SBC President Johnny Hunt in Guidepost Defamation Suit}
The dismissed counts included defamation related to the Guidepost report and a related letter, false light, public disclosure of embarrassing private facts, and both forms of emotional distress. A libel per se claim had already been thrown out earlier because Tennessee law does not recognize it as a separate cause of action.{14Baptist Press. Federal Judge Drops All but One Count in Johnny Hunt’s Lawsuit}
The One Surviving Claim
The remaining count concerns a post made on December 5, 2022, by Bart Barber, who was then serving as SBC president. Barber wrote that “Hunt was the subject of a third-party investigation in response to allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman half his age in ways that would, to my knowledge, constitute a felony in any jurisdiction in the US.”{15Christian Post. Judge Denies SBC Motion to Completely Dismiss Johnny Hunt Lawsuit}
Judge Campbell declined to dismiss this count because two factual questions remained unresolved. The first is whether Hunt qualified as a “public figure” at the time of the tweet. That determines whether he must prove “actual malice” or the lower standard of negligence. The second is whether Barber was speaking as SBC president when he posted, which would keep the denomination and its Executive Committee on the hook rather than leaving Barber personally responsible. The court found Hunt had “presented evidence from which a jury could conclude that Barber’s Tweet was in his capacity as SBC president.”{13MinistryWatch. Judge Rules Against Former SBC President Johnny Hunt in Guidepost Defamation Suit}
Where the Case Stands Now
Trial had been scheduled for June 17, 2025, but on May 12, 2025, Judge Campbell canceled it because of pending motions to reconsider from both sides.{16Bishop Accountability. Johnny Hunt v. SBC: Judge Postpones Court Trial for Now} The defendants have since filed a new motion for partial summary judgment arguing that Hunt is a public figure and that actual malice cannot be shown, which if granted would effectively end the case. Hunt has not yet responded to that motion. Trial is now set for September 22, 2026, though whether it proceeds depends on how Judge Campbell rules on the public-figure question.{1Baptist Press. Legal Digest: Trial Dates Set in Hunt, Sills Lawsuits}
What the Litigation Has Cost the SBC
By early 2025, the SBC Executive Committee had spent more than $3.1 million in legal fees on the Hunt case and a related lawsuit, and requested an additional $3 million to cover ongoing costs.{12Religion News Service. Judge Rules in Favor of Guidepost and SBC in Johnny Hunt Lawsuit} Combined with about $9 million spent on the Guidepost investigation and other abuse-related legal matters, the Executive Committee’s total legal spending since 2021 exceeded $12.1 million. Auditors described the pace as “unsustainable,” and in September 2024 the committee authorized its president to put the denomination’s Nashville headquarters on the market.{17MBC Pathway. SBC Executive Committee’s Legal Expenses Surpass $12M in Three Years}
At the SBC’s June 2025 annual meeting in Dallas, messenger Benjamin Cole introduced a motion asking denomination leaders to countersue Hunt to recover legal fees from what he called a “multi-million-dollar frivolous claim.”{18The Baptist Paper. Wide Range of Content Covered by SBC Exec Comm in September Meeting} The Executive Committee took up the motion on September 23, 2025, and voted it down overwhelmingly. General counsel Robert Pautienus advised that a countersuit could not be filed while Hunt’s case remained active and would need to be styled as a “malicious prosecution” claim, which requires proving the original suit had “zero merit.” Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said he had “profound reservations about violating 1 Corinthians 6 and suing any other believer for any purpose in a civil manner.” Only two committee members voted against rejecting the motion.{19Baptist News Global. SBC Executive Committee Won’t Pursue Countersuit Against Hunt}{20Baptist Standard. Executive Committee Declines to Sue Johnny Hunt}
A Separate Case to Know About
Hunt’s suit is not the only one the SBC faces over the Guidepost report. A parallel case, Sills v. Southern Baptist Convention (Case No. 3:23-cv-00478), was filed in May 2023 by David and Mary Sills, who allege the report “perpetuated a false narrative” about David Sills and the late Jennifer Lyell. That case is also before Judge Campbell, defendants are seeking summary judgment, and trial is set for November 10, 2026.{21BRNow. Legal Digest: Trial Dates Set in Hunt, Sills Lawsuits} It is a separate lawsuit from Hunt’s and involves different plaintiffs and facts.