#Inside Jerry Falwell Jr.’s life of luxury before shocking pool boy sex scandal

Enlarge Image

Jerry Falwell Jr. in the Bahamas in July 2019.
Instagram

Jerry Falwell Jr. led a life of luxury filled with jaunts to Miami on a private jet, trips to the Bahamas, and a $1 million salary — while running Liberty University like a “dictatorship” — before he resigned over his sordid sexcapade scandal.

Falwell, 58, portrayed himself as the consummate family man on Instagram, posting photos of his daughter’s picture-perfect engagement and riding horses on his sprawling farm in Cifax, Virginia.

Other snaps show the influential evangelical leader snorkeling in the Bahamas, dining with friends during a trip to Greece made possible by “good friends from the Middle East” and dressed up at the White House Christmas party.

In 2007, Falwell took over as president of Liberty University following the death of his father, the late famed televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr., who founded the ultra-conservative Christian school in Virginia in 1971.

He enjoyed perks including a nearly $1 million salary and the university-chartered jet, which he used to fly to Miami for his annual physical — as required by the school’s board, Reuters reported last year.

Falwell’s personal trainer Benjamin Crosswhite accompanied him on one physical in 2012 “to explain to the doctors Mr. Falwell’s diet and exercise program and help document the results,” the university said.

But Falwell has faced scrutiny over his relationship with Crosswhite — with the then-chancellor personally approving real estate deals that benefited the Liberty alumnus, according to Reuters.

He’s also faced fierce criticism over his allegedly self-dealing management of the university.

“It’s a dictatorship,” one high-level employee told Politico last year. “Nobody craps at the university without Jerry’s approval.”

Falwell, one of the most influential right-wing Christian leaders in the country, officially resigned as president of Liberty on Monday over his alleged sex scandal involving his wife, Becki, and her pool-boy lover, Giancarlo Granda.

The younger man, now 29, has claimed he had sex with Becki, 53, for years starting in 2012 — and that Falwell liked to watch.

Falwell confirmed his wife’s “indiscretion” but said it was brief and denied being involved.

He had been on leave from the university after posting a photo on his Instagram showing him with his jeans unzipped and his arm around a young pregnant woman.

He and Becki married in 1987 and have three children.

Falwell could reportedly net $10.5 million from Liberty following his resignation — $2.5 million for two years of his salary, plus a one-time payment of about $8 million as part of a contractual clause giving him full pay if he resigned with restricted responsibilities, the Wall Street Journal reported.

He told the paper Monday night, “I didn’t break any rules — I get my compensation.”