Jerry Falwell Jr. Steps Down From Liberty University After Racy Party Photo
Jerry Falwell Jr. Photo by Gage Skidmore.
Jerry Falwell Jr. has taken an indefinite leave of absence from leading Liberty University, the country’s largest Christian school announced Aug. 7. The resignation comes after Falwell posted a racy photo on Instagram of himself from a yacht party.
The photo (which was quickly removed from his account) shows Falwell standing next to a woman, both of their pants unzipped, with his belly and underwear exposed.
Falwell has sparked many controversies since taking over the university from his televangelist father in 2007. In 2016, he was one of the earliest and most prominent evangelicals to endorse President Donald Trump. Recently, a student filed a class-action lawsuit against Liberty, accusing them of downplaying the coronavirus and seeking a refund that had been denied for tuition payments. Falwell allowed students to stay on the campus during the pandemic, even though he told local officials he wouldn’t.
Falwell apologized for the photo on Wednesday, saying in an interview with radio station WLNI, “I promised my kids I’m going to try to be a good boy from here on out,” and that the photo was taken “in good fun.”
Falwell also said the woman in the photo was his “wife’s assistant” and that “she’s pregnant, so she couldn’t get her pants up. And I had on a pair of jeans that I hadn’t worn in a long time, so I couldn’t get mine zipped, either. And so I just put my belly out like hers."
A video from the party labeled Falwell “Julian” and young women “Julian’s employees,” according to Houston Chronicle reporter Robert Downen, who first tweeted the Instagram photo, but Falwell has not explained them.
On Thursday, Baptist minister Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), who also serves as a board member on the university’s music faculty, called on Liberty University to remove Falwell, tweeting, “Jerry Falwell Jr’s ongoing behavior is appalling... I’m convinced Falwell should step down."
After Trump’s election, Falwell increasingly stifled dissent among students, staff and faculty, and censored the student newspaper, according to the former editor.
Falwell has previously published racy photos of his wife and been accused of discussing his sex life at work, despite the university enforcing modest dress and prohibiting sexually explicit images or streaming on campus, according to a Politico Magazine profile.
In 2011, Falwell engineered a deal with Liberty that gave his 23-year-old personal trainer and friend a formerly university-owned 18-acre sports facility.
Last year, images of Falwell partying in Miami sparked controversy while reports showed Falwell engaged in questionable business deals with a pool attendant and that Trump’s former aid Michael Cohen had tried to buy embarrassing photos of Falwell and his wife.
This also isn’t the first offensive image Falwell has been asked to apologize for. In June, Black alumni in a letter called for Falwell to change his behavior or step down as Liberty University president after he tweeted an image of a face mask imprinted with a photo of one man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes.
Read: Liberty President Falwell Apologizes For 'Offensive Image'
As Falwell’s latest photo circled around the Internet, many evangelicals and critics who had wanted him removed for years took jabs and poked fun at his announced leave from Liberty.
Many Christians have taken Falwell’s departure as a genuine reason to rejoice, as they believe he has been harmful to Liberty University and a distasteful Christian figure.
Christian activist Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons tweeted the news and the photo with a line of praise: “May we all rejoice with God at Jerry Falwell Jr.’s demise.”
Some have taken the incident beyond the figure beyond just Falwell himself, using the occasion as a way to start discussion on harmful white Evangelicalism.
More details regarding the leave—such as whether or not it will be paid, or comments from Falwell Jr. himself—have not yet been announced. But many have made cynical comments that suggest this leave will be more beneficial to Falwell.
But whether this leave is “a pre-planned vacation,” as some are accusing, has yet to be revealed or confirmed.
Meagan Clark is the managing editor of Religion Unplugged. She previously reported retail and economic news for International Business Times, and human rights and religion stories from India for several outlets like Indian Express, the Wire and Scroll.in. Follow her on Twitter @MeaganKay.
Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and Evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.