Jerry Falwell Jr. says his reputation was tarnished — and sues Liberty University

Jerry Falwell Jr. filed a lawsuit against Liberty University on Thursday, alleging the college “needlessly injured and damaged his reputation” following his resignation from the evangelical college earlier this year.

Falwell resigned as Liberty’s president and chancellor after 13 years on Aug. 25.

The lawsuit makes claims for defamation and breach of contract in Virginia Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg, according to a statement released by his legal team at Quinn Emmanuel.

“Other than God and my family, there is nothing in the world I love more than Liberty University,” Falwell said in the statement. “...While I have nothing but love and appreciation for the Liberty community, and I had hoped to avoid litigation, I must take the necessary steps to restore my reputation and hopefully help repair the damage to the Liberty University brand in the process.”

A university spokesperson declined a request for comment from McClatchy News, saying the school had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

Liberty was founded by Falwell’s father, Jerry Falwell Sr., in the 1970s. Falwell took over as president and chancellor after his father’s death in 2007.

The embattled evangelical leader was forced to leave the university after multiple public scandals.

The first involved a series of pictures Falwell posted on Instagram after a vacation in August — including one in which he is seen standing next to a woman with his belly exposed and his pants unzipped, WSLS reported. The post was removed, but not before a Houston Chroniclereporter shared it on Twitter with the caption “wut is happening.”

Falwell later apologized for the photo in an interview with WLNI 105.9, WSLS reported.

“Yeah, it was weird. She’s pregnant,” he reportedly told the radio station. “She couldn’t get her pants zipped and I was like trying to like… I had on a pair of jeans I haven’t worn in a long time and couldn’t get zipped either. So, I just put my belly out like hers. She’s my wife’s assistant, she’s a sweetheart. I should have never put it up and embarrassed her. I’ve apologized to everybody. I promised my kids I will try to be a good boy from here on out.”

But a few weeks later, Jerry Falwell and his wife, Becki Falwell, were rocked by allegations of an affair with a “pool boy” in Miami.

Giancarlo Granda, a former pool attendant at the luxury hotel Fontainebleau, told Reuters in an exclusive interview that he’d had a sexual relationship with Becki Falwell as a 20-year-old while Jerry Falwell watched, The Miami Herald reported.

Jerry Falwell confirmed his wife had an affair with Granda but denied involvement, saying Granda tried to extort the couple for money for years to keep it a secret, according to the newspaper. Jerry Falwell said the affair took an “emotional toll” on him and caused severe weight loss, The Herald reported.

In a statement on Aug. 31, after Jerry Falwell resigned with two years’ severance pay, Liberty University officials said they “had been willing to extend grace and understanding to Jerry Falwell, Jr. before” but “acted swiftly and decisively to ask for his immediate resignation” once the allegations came to light.

“Some may say that all the signs were there for a long time before last week,” the university’s statement read. “It’s certainly fair to say that there were questionable comments made, worrying behavior, and inappropriate social media posts, but all the signs were not there until the start of last week. While we still didn’t know the full scope of the matter, we have learned enough about the past to know that we had no choice but to take the leadership of Liberty University in a new direction.”

Jerry Falwell is now suing over the university’s statements “published in print and spoken in large public forums and streamed online” that he said “had the effect of affirming false claims” against him, according to Thursday’s release.

The complaint alleges officials at Liberty University were too quick to accept the allegations as fact without proper investigation, saying they tried to “tarnish, minimize, and outright destroy the legacy of the Falwell family and Mr. Falwell’s reputation.”

Jerry Falwell’s attorneys said he is being targeted by someone who “appears to be supported financially by political opponents of Mr. Falwell in the midst of a heated presidential campaign.” They also said he attempted to meet with the university’s board of trustees to resolve these claims “but were unsuccessful in doing so,” which prompted him to file the lawsuit.