Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. appears to have drunk-dialed a radio station to claim that a bizarre picture of him with a woman who is not his wife – with both their pants undone – was “just in good fun.”
Falwell runs Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, a far-right and strict Christian school that bans LGBTQ people, doesn’t allow students to spend time with members of the opposite sex after dark, and bans students from drinking even if they are of legal age.
Related: Jerry Falwell Jr. denies ‘racy’ photos are of himself. Doesn’t mention his wife or the pool boy.
But Falwell’s behavior over the past few years would probably have gotten him expelled from his own school multiple times, including a weird Instagram photo he posted the other day with a young woman. Both of their pants were undone, his arm was around her waist, and he was holding what may have been an alcoholic drink but that he claimed was “black water” in the caption.
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The photo fell far short of the dress code Falwell imposes on Liberty students, which says, “Cleanliness, neatness, appropriateness, and modesty are the general guiding factors with regard to dress.”
Yesterday morning, Falwell called into a morning show on the radio station WLNI and sounded, according to some social media commenters, as if he were already drunk.
He identified the woman as his wife’s assistant and said that her pants were open “because she’s pregnant so she couldn’t get her pants zipped.” He said that he wore old pants that didn’t fit, so he couldn’t close his either.
And instead of putting on clothes that fit, they took a picture together and posted it to Instagram, which he said he never should have done and that it “embarrassed her.”
“Anyway, I’ve apologized to everybody, and I’ve promised my kids, I’m going to try to be a good boy from here on out,” Falwell said.
Here is the audio of a very drunk Jerry Falwell, Jr. calling into a *morning* radio show to explain (unintentionally) why he looked like a drunk, unzipped mess on his yacht. He had posted this photo on Instagram, which would have gotten a student kicked out of his own @LibertyU. pic.twitter.com/ouzZIZ5c07
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) August 5, 2020
Falwell has since deleted the photo from Instagram.
This isn’t the first time that the anti-LGBTQ evangelical leader has been caught behaving in ways his school considers inappropriate. Last year alleged photos of him and his son Trey Falwell at a nightclub in Miami were made public.
Several sources told Politico that Falwell went to “IT guy” John Gauger to get him to reduce the pictures’ prominence in Google searches.
Falwell is also allegedly “very, very vocal” about his sex life with university employees. Several sources said that he texts or sends racy pictures of his wife to male subordinates.
A former official recalled a car ride with Falwell. “All he wanted to talk about was how he would nail his wife, how she couldn’t handle [his penis size], and stuff of that sort,” the official said.
Another employee said that Falwell sent a picture of his wife in a French maid outfit to his personal trainer Benjamin Crosswhite as a “thank you” for helping his wife get in shape.
But he accidentally sent the picture to multiple people. Crosswhite has not commented on the incident, and Falwell denies it. Falwell had previously made headlines when he allegedly hired Donald Trump’s “fixer” Michael Cohen to take care of some racy photos.
Crosswhite is one of two muscular young men Falwell has been accused of financially supporting with inappropriate business deals. The other was pool attendant Giancarlo Granda, who needed money to start a “gay friendly” hotel.
