But not everything in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” sticks so close to the truth. The depiction of Tammy Faye’s own affair, for starters, isn’t exactly how people remember it. In the film, Tammy meets music producer Gary Paxton and ends up infatuated with him, according to Slate. But after they kiss, she calls off the whole thing.
In real life, the relationship was more one-sided. Tammy might have been infatuated with Paxton, but according to Slate, Paxton had no romantic interest in her and there was no affair. Paxton’s wife, Karen, pushed back against those rumors at the time, to both the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Instead of running away from Jim Bakker when the accusations came to light (as shown in the film), Karen Paxton said her husband threatened to beat Jim up (via Slate).
Other parts of Tammy Faye’s story, and that of her husband, are murky. The accusations of Jim Bakker pursuing affairs with other men aren’t verified, according to Slate, so it’s hard to say whether the film gets them right.
