Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns as president of Liberty University
Embattled evangelical leader Jerry Falwell, Jr. resigned Monday as president of Liberty University, the Christian school founded by his late father, a spokesman for the school told CNN.
The Christian school
in Lynchburg, Virginia, will issue a statement soon, Liberty University
spokesman Scott Lamb said.
Falwell Jr.'s
resignation comes after the latest in a series of recent public controversies
about his behavior.
A Miami man is saying
he had an eight-year affair with Falwell, Jr.'s wife after he met the couple at
a Miami hotel. In a statement to CNN, Falwell Jr., acknowledged the affair.
Falwell Jr., 58, who
was on leave from the school, issued a lengthy statement Sunday saying he and
his family were blackmailed by the man, who had an "inappropriate personal
relationship" with his wife Becki.
Jerry Falwell Jr. and
his wife Becki Falwell speak during a town hall meeting on the opioid crisis in
March 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In his statement, obtained by CNN and first reported by the Washington Examiner, Falwell, Jr. said the affair led to stress, weight loss and the feeling that he was "living on a roller coaster."
Falwell Jr. did not
identify the man. But Giancarlo Granda told CNN he is the person who is
referenced throughout Falwell's statement.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Granda said he was 20
years old in 2012 when he met the couple while working as a pool attendant at
the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami and began a relationship in the same month
with Falwell Jr's wife, Becki. Throughout the relationship, Granda said
Falwell, Jr. "enjoyed watching from the corner of the room" as he and
Becki had sex.
Granda told Reuters he
and Becki had sex "multiple times per year" at hotels in Miami and
New York and at the Falwells' home in Virginia.
Neither Falwell, Jr.
nor Becki Falwell have commented on Granda's description of the affair.
However, a
spokesperson for both Falwells said the claim that Jerry observed the two
having sex was untrue and pointed to a specific line in his statement where
Falwell said: "Becki had an inappropriate personal relationship with this
person, something in which I was not involved."
And a person familiar
with the relationship told CNN the physical relationship between Becki Falwell
and Granda lasted about a year, disputing the length of the relationship as
told by Granda to Reuters.
When contacted Monday
by CNN, Granda said via text message, "I've been working with an
investigative team," in an apparent reference to the Reuters story.
"The Falwells are attempting to get ahead of the story by creating a false
narrative. The truth is coming soon."
Granda declined to
answer further questions on the record.
The revelation adds
new depth to Jerry Falwell Jr.'s swift and remarkable fall from grace. In June
he apologized after deleting a much-criticized tweet that showed one
person in black face and another in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe.
On August 7, Liberty
University's executive committee said they asked Falwell to take an "indefinite leave of absence" after
he posted a photo on Instagram that showed him with his pants unzipped and his
midsection visible. In the photo, Falwell is holding a cup of dark liquid and
has one arm around a woman whose shorts are also unzipped.
In a radio interview
soon afterwards, Falwell said the woman was his wife's assistant. He said the
pair were at a costume party and "it was just in good fun," but added
he should never have posted the photo and said, "I've apologized to
everybody and I promised my kids I'm going to try to be a good boy from here on
out."