James Fortune released the following statement on Saturday, October 25. 2014:
I am truly sorry for the negative attention this situation has brought my wife, family, friends and business partners. Because it is a pending legal matter, I cannot comment on what has been reported.
However, I understand the seriousness of this matter and ask that you respect the privacy of my family as we address this together.”
Late Friday evening, Houston’s Fox affiliate Channel 26 broke news that Stellar Award-winning Gospel artist James Fortune had been arrested and charged with aggravated assault to a family member. His arrest was confirmed by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s office and the 35-year-old songwriter-producer was released on $20,000 bond.
Details on what exactly caused the arrest were not revealed and the identity of the family member was not disclosed.
Having released seven albums and currently hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, “The James Fortune Show,” Fortune knows the news of his arrest has had an impact on both his music fans and radio listeners.
“I would also like to thank my fans for their outpouring of love and support,” he concluded.
In 2012, Fortune was sued by his then 15-year-old stepson’s biological father in a civil lawsuit for $5 million for child abuse.
His stepson’s father alleged that Fortune had abused his son when he was four-years-old by putting him in scolding hot water as punishment for coloring on a table.
At the time, Fortune attributed the allegations by his wife Cheryl Fortune’s ex as an attack on his “increased profile and financial viability” and contested the matter in civil court. The stepson, now 17, has had “continuous uninterrupted open visitations” since 2001 and was actually living with Fortune during his summer break when the civil suit was made public.
The negative press generated from the lawsuit was Fortune’s inspiration for penning the song ‘Live Through It’ from his 2014 release via eOne Entertainment, “Identity.”
Last fall in Atlanta during a live recording for “Identity” and when discussing ‘Live Through It,’ he said: “the song was a word of encouragement that God gave to me. We all have to go through different struggles, different storms in this life, as believers, but we can live through it if we pray through it. God says I’m only allowing it because I know it will make you better.”
Source: AlwaysAList.com
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