{"id":27574,"date":"2025-05-22T09:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T13:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27574"},"modified":"2025-05-22T09:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T13:54:09","slug":"liberty-university-pays-jerry-falwell-jr-15m-through-disclosed-sex-scandal-settlement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/liberty-university-pays-jerry-falwell-jr-15m-through-disclosed-sex-scandal-settlement","title":{"rendered":"Liberty University Pays Jerry Falwell, Jr., $15M Through Disclosed Sex Scandal Settlement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Left: Shutterstock.com | Right: The Old Major \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1971, Rev. Jerry Falwell was the nationally influential and sociopolitical pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. That year, he founded Liberty University to become a bastion of Christian higher education. In 2025, the late Rev. Falwell would possibly be flabbergasted as the board of trustees of that institution agreed to pay $15 million to settle litigation<\/a> for his son’s high-profile sex scandal.<\/p>\n

Five years ago, the son of the Moral Majority founder was unexpectedly embroiled in the heart of a sex scandal that rocked the country to its dogmatic core. The scandal involved Becki Falwell, Jerry Jr.’s wife, and a young pool attendant named Giancarlo Granda.<\/p>\n

It was perverse and shunned by the public because of both who it involved, and that Falwell encouraged the sexual encounters so he could watch.<\/p>\n

Several documentaries<\/a> have examined the scandal, including one taken from Granda’s vantage point. It led to Falwell’s resignation from the university his father founded. The parting of the college and Falwell was resolved via a clandestine settlement last year.<\/p>\n

The terms of that settlement<\/a> have been revealed through a USA Today<\/em> investigative report. According to the release, the salacious details were “buried deep” in a recently filed 2023-2024 tax form.<\/p>\n

“It’s paying Falwell a multimillion-dollar figure to ‘settle certain claims and close certain transactions.’ As part of the agreement, Falwell agreed to pay the university $440,000 to settle ‘disputed expenses’ between him and the university. Details about those claims were not included.”<\/p>\n

The disgraced university president will receive approximately $5.5 million to settle the lawsuits. That lump sum is in addition to the $9.7 million Falwell already received as part of his “retirement package,” as the tax documents reveal.<\/p>\n

After leaving the university, Liberty launched a thorough investigation into Falwell’s alleged conduct. Multiple times, the university sued its former president. In 2020, it sued for defamation, but the complaint was dropped. The university then sued Falwell in 2021<\/a>, alleging a breach of contract, which was pending litigation. Then, in 2023, Falwell filed a lawsuit over his retirement package and another against using his father’s image.<\/p>\n

No comments from either party regarding the now-public amounts of money given to Falwell have been found for the settlements and legal cease-fire between Falwell and Liberty University. In a 2024 statement<\/a>, the university shared that the two parties reached “a global resolution agreement” with its Board of Trustees that settled “all outstanding disputes on both legal and personal matters.”<\/p>\n

At that time, Falwell said he was “very pleased … with the final settlement.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1971, Rev. Jerry Falwell was the nationally influential and sociopolitical pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. That year, he founded Liberty University to become a bastion of Christian higher education. In 2025, the late Rev. Falwell would possibly be flabbergasted as the board of trustees of that institution agreed to pay…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":27577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLiberty University Pays Jerry Falwell, Jr., $15M Through Disclosed Sex Scandal Settlement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Liberty University paid $15M to settle lawsuits tied to Jerry Falwell Jr.'s sex scandal\u2014shocking fallout from the legacy of its founder.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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