RELIGIOUS HYPOCRISY
Now-Deleted Photo Allegedly of Jerry Falwell Jr. With Unzipped Pants in the Company of ‘Good Friends’ Stuns Internet

A Houston Chronicle reporter posted what appears to be a screenshot from Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr’s Instagram account, and it’s going viral on social media. The unconfirmed photo appears to be of Falwell Jr., with his arm around a young woman, his pants unzipped with underwear showing. He is holding a glass.
“More vacation shots,” the caption reads. “Lots of good friends visited us on the yacht. I promised that’s only black water in my glass. It was a prop only.”
Robert Downen, whose bio says he reports on “All things faith/religion” for the Houston Chronicle, tweeted out the screenshot.
wut is happening pic.twitter.com/8iEOr9EeRQ
— Robert Downen (@RobDownenChron) August 3, 2020
Downen says the post is “real,” citing three sources.
Hi Chris. OG tweeter of said photo/religion reporter. Three people have independently told me it’s real. https://t.co/6ToTIXSu8z
— Robert Downen (@RobDownenChron) August 3, 2020
Relevant magazine, which says it is “the leading platform reaching Christian twenty- and thirtysomethings,” also called it “a bizarre Instagram post.”
Pulpit & Pen News, which says it is “is a media outreach of the Fellowship Baptist Church,” also reported on the photo, saying: “To say that this behavior is unbecoming and scandalous for a president of a Christian university is an understatement.”
They say Falwell Jr. also posted and then deleted a video of they describe as “Trailer Park Boys” on a yacht.
Some online responses:
First, the pool boy. Now, this unzipped drunken debauchery.
Are you starting to – finally – understand why “Christian” scold, Jerry Falwell, Jr., has no problem supporting the adulterous liar Donald J. Trump? pic.twitter.com/mID1k0eexa
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) August 3, 2020
It’s interesting that Jerry Falwell felt the need to explain what he’s drinking over the other more obvious issues here… pic.twitter.com/8WHLuvjcYe
— Jimmy Humphrey (@TableJimmys) August 3, 2020
Jerry Falwell Jr. just posted a picture of himself in his underwear so we have officially reached the low point of 2020. It has to get better, right? Right?
— Jacob Denhollander (@JJ_Denhollander) August 3, 2020
Re: Jerry Falwell yacht photo.
The impulse is to laugh in disgust/horror at the photo.
But it should actively anger you on behalf of the students who have faced significant consequences on campus for the *same* actions.
— Alexandra M. Green (@Alex_andra_MG) August 3, 2020
Last Sept., Falwell said that a photo of him at a Miami nightclub was “likely photo-shopped”. He later said he was at the nightclub. When I asked him about it, this was his response: https://t.co/NfUnsEsqtN
— Napp Nazworth (@NappNazworth) August 3, 2020
Nothing to see here folks, just the Rev. Jerry Falwell Jr. posing with his pants open with a woman who isn’t his wife (also with her pants open) partying it up on a billionaire’s yacht and making fun of people who live in trailer parks. Just like Jesus! pic.twitter.com/X3oAe6V7g2
— John Smith Chicago (@JohnSmithChgo) August 3, 2020
In his own way, Falwell is the best thing to happen to free thought since Bertrand Russell or Tom Paine. https://t.co/SrqnScyFff
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 3, 2020
Re: Jerry Falwell Jr’s vacay ‘gram: That photo would be insane for ANYONE to post, not just an evangelical leader (let alone one who’s a university president). Like, if anyone in a normal family posted that, phone-tree would for sure go off and the next reunion would be weird.
— Lucy Caldwell (@lucymcaldwell) August 3, 2020
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