The Christian Post.com By Leonardo Blair Wed., Aug.26, 2020
Since he wasn’t formally accused of or admitted to any wrongdoing, former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. said he will walk away with a severance package totalling $10.5 million after his resignation Monday night in the wake of a sex scandal.
Falwell, 58, told The Washington Post that he’ll get $2.5 million over the next 24 months plus another $8 million after that period in retirement benefits per a contract he signed with Liberty University in July 2019.
“The board was gracious not to challenge that,” Falwell explained. “There wasn’t any cause. I haven’t done anything.”
The Board of Trustees of Liberty University, one of the largest evangelical Christian universities in the world, announced Tuesday that they had accepted Falwell’s resignation “effective immediately” after he and his wife, Rebecca, were implicated in a sex scandal Monday.
The resignation comes after a tumultuous weekend for Falwell, during which it was first revealed on Sunday that his wife had an affair with former “pool boy” Giancarlo Granda, 29, (pic below) which began eight years ago.
Granda allegedly later attempted to blackmail the couple. Falwell said he was shocked to learn about his wife’s affair, but Granda contradicted that claim Monday when he said he had engaged in the affair with Falwell’s knowledge and provided audio he said is evidence supporting his claim.
“Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room,” Granda told Reuters.
He claimed his liaisons with Rebecca Falwell were frequent — happening “multiple times per year” — noting that they would meet at hotels in Miami, New York, and the Falwells’ home in Virginia.
In a statement he published on Twitter Tuesday night, Granda further slammed Falwell and his wife as liars, noting that Falwell abused his position of authority at the Christian university and even sent him a photo of a female Liberty University student exposing herself.
Falwell told The Washington Post that he was not involved in the affair with Granda, a statement his wife also confirmed in the same interview while noting that she was embarrassed and she wished Christians and people in general would forgive her like Christ.
“I wish Christians, and people, would be as forgiving as Christ was,” she said.
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