THE LOVE TRIANGLE SCANDAL
THE LOVE TRIANGLE THAT SPARKED A SALACIOUS SCANDAL
“Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room” — GRANDA
When Jerry Falwell Jnr, one of the country’s most prominent evangelical leaders, posted a photo on August 2 with his pants unzipped and his arm around his wife Becki’s assistant, the ensuing controversy sparked him to quickly delete the photo – and take an “indefinite leave of absence” from his role as Liberty University president.
But the scandal surrounding Falwell Jnr, 58, was only beginning. On August 24, Giancarlo Granda, a former pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, came forward with claims that he “developed an intimate relationship” with Becki after befriending the Falwells during their vacation in March 2012 when he was 20.
Over the next six years, Granda, 29, told Reuters he met with the couple “multiple times per year” to have sex with Becki, 53, while “Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room” – behaviour that contradicts Liberty’s strict code of conduct, established by its late founder and Jerry’s dad, pastor Jerry Falwell Snr.
Their relationship eventually turned contentious when Granda allegedly tried to end things. Granda claimed the Falwells gave him an ownership stake in a youth hostel that they purchased in 2013, and he wanted to cash in. Falwell Jnr agreed to pay Granda an undisclosed sum for the share. Falwell Jnr disputes Granda’s claims, explaining in his own statement on August 23 that he had no part in the sexual relationship and Granda was extorting them for money.
“It was like living on a roller-coaster,” Falwell Jnr told the Washington Examiner. Days later, Becki spoke out and confirmed the extramarital affair while backing her husband’s claim he wasn’t involved.
“We have the strongest relationship, and Jerry is the most forgiving person I’ve ever met,” Becki, who has three children with Falwell Jnr, told the Associated Press.
The fallout led Falwell Jnr to resign from his post at Liberty on August 25. “The only reason I resigned [was] because I don’t want something my wife did to harm the school I’ve spent my whole life building,” he told the AP.
Amid the scandal, Becki found herself entangled in more allegations involving a former Liberty student who said she was the “aggressor” in a 2008 sexual encounter. (The Falwells both denied the claims.)
Falwell Jnr – a key ally of many of the country’s leading conservative politicians, including President Trump – is now stepping out of the spotlight, while Granda continues to stand by his claims. Falwell Jnr “was aware from day one” of the affair with Becki “and he did, in fact, watch,” Granda told Good Morning America, adding in a statement, “The whole truth will come out.”