Former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. is suing the school that he lead until this summer when he was embroiled at the center of a sex scandal.
Falwell’s lawyer said this week that they tried to meet with the board at Liberty University but were unsuccessful.
He added, “Thus, we were forced to seek remedy for Mr. Falwell’s ongoing injuries and damage to his reputation through the Court.”
In his statement, Falwell said:
“Other than God and my family, there is nothing in the world I love more than Liberty University. I am saddened that University officials, with whom I have shared so much success and enjoyed such positive relationships, jumped to conclusions about the claims made against my character, failed to properly investigate them, and then damaged my reputation following my forced resignation.”
He continued, “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.”
Falwell first came under fire after he posted a photo of himself and a woman with his pants unzipped. He later apologized, saying, “She’s my wife’s assistant she’s a sweetheart. I should have never put it up and embarrassed her.” After that saga, the board of Liberty University announced that Falwell would be taking an indefinite leave of absence.
Later in the summer, Falwell resigned from Liberty University after one of his business partners came forward to say that he had been having a relationship with Falwell’s wife and that the Liberty University president would watch their intimate encounters. The lawsuit says “this was not true. Mr. Falwell did not participate in the affair and he certainly did not watch Granda having sex with his wife.”
Exclusive: A business partner of Jerry Falwell Jr and his wife Becki shared text and audio messages with @Reuters, showing his relationship with the evangelical couple https://t.co/CCq99hpizy pic.twitter.com/l1K9w5kEQk
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 24, 2020
Falwell denied the allegations and this week, his lawyer said that the former business partner appears “to be supported financially by political opponents of Mr. Falwell.” He also accused the Lincoln Project, a group of disaffected Republicans who have been running anti-Trump ads for the past year, of finically supporting Falwell’s former business partner.