Jerry Falwell, Jr. says he was bored and wanted to quit as president and chancellor of one of the world’s largest conservative Christian colleges. He also says his decision to resign was based in part on him not wanting his wife’s conduct to embarrass Liberty University, the school his “Moral Majority” father founded nearly 50 years ago.
The Washington Post reports Falwell said “he had not been involved in an affair, but his wife had; Becki Falwell, in the same interview, confirmed that account. Falwell said he was leaving Liberty in part because he did not want his wife’s conduct to embarrass the school. But he also said he had been bored and wanted to move on.”
In the interview with the Post, Falwell also says he will get $10.5 million over the next two years as part of his contract with Liberty. $2.5 million over two years as salary, and another $8 million at the end of that time.
The 58-year old conservative leader says he is entitled to the golden parachute because he was not formally accused of wrongdoing, and did not admit to any, according to the Post.
“The board was gracious not to challenge that,” Falwell said of his decision to step down in good standing.
“There wasn’t any cause,” he said. “I haven’t done anything.”
But Giancarlo Granda, the Falwell’s “pool boy” and business partner whom they met when he was just 20 years old, tells a vastly different story. He says for seven years he and the couple engaged in an intimate relationship. “Jerry enjoyed watching.”
Granda also released a statement calling Falwell a “predator,” and says Falwell sent him “an image of a female Liberty University student exposing herself at their farm.”