Liberty University sues Falwell Jr.

Liberty University is suing its former president, Jerry Falwell Jr., claiming he smeared the school's reputation with a sex scandal and hid that information while negotiating a plentiful new contract in 2019.

Falwell was president and chancellor of Liberty from 2007 until August 2020, when he resigned.

Earlier that month, Falwell's pool cleaner-turned-business partner Giancarlo Granda said beginning in 2012 he had sex several times with Falwell's wife, Becki, while the evangelical university president watched. The Falwells have admitted the affair but denied the more sordid claims.

In the suit, Liberty said the scandal tarnished its reputation as an institution of higher learning, claiming Falwell threw numerous parties and was spotted at several clubs in Miami.

The lawsuit also includes the infamous photo of Falwell with his pants unzipped next to a woman who is not his wife, and a screenshot from a video of Falwell doing weight room pelvic thrusts with two young women standing on either end of the barbell.

The Lynchburg, Virginia, school said its former president's actions were “in contrast to the high behavior standards that Falwell expected others at Liberty to follow.”