Disgraced former Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. has tossed a couple of grenades into the public view during his nasty lawsuit with his former school, accusing several former leaders of hypocritical sexual misconduct and financial impropriety.
This is all part of an ongoing legal battle between Falwell, primarily over the University’s plans to build the Jerry Falwell Center, a $35M shrine to his later father, which includes a hologram tour showcasing his likeness and quotes from him emblazoned on the walls.
Falwell Jr. insists that a trust controlled by him and his siblings holds the exclusive rights to his father’s name, intellectual property, and likeness and that the University has continued to use these without the family’s nod of approval, stating that because his father operated his school and ministry unimpeachably, he doesn’t want his name dragged through the mud or linked to the scandals that lay just under the surface.
Though Falwell played a significant role in tarnishing the school’s reputation all on his own after resigning over a sex scandal in 2020 following scandalous photos of him taken on a yacht, he claims in his amended complaint that former interim Liberty President Jerry Prevo, along with former SBC President Jerry Vines, skimmed off university funds for their pet projects and private affair. He accuses Prevo of taking the University’s private jet on multiple personal trips to his homes in Alaska and Arizona, each trip costing $35,000 and $20,000 a pop, and Vines of conveniently receiving $100,000 in donations to ‘Jerry Vines Ministries’ from the school just months after joining their Executive Committee. According to WSET:
“The complaint (also) makes the case that Falwell was being held to a standard that did not apply to other high-ranking university officials. The complaint alleges that several other incidents were not met with the same punitive action:
- One former University President was sued by a former Liberty employee for sexual harassment (and paid out a settlement) but was not removed from his position.
- The former Dean of Liberty’s School of Divinity, the late Dr. Edward Hindson, had an extramarital affair during his time at Liberty but was not removed from his position.
- The former provost of Liberty, Dr. Ronald Godwin, had an extramarital affair with his secretary while working at a Liberty affiliate Moral Majority, Inc., but was not removed from his position.
- A current member of the Executive Committee has admitted to previously having more than one affair.
Unlike other university officials, the complaint alleges that Falwell was not the recipient of Liberty’s “long-standing culture of forgiveness.”
If anyone knows where the bodies are buried, it’s Falwell, and he’s not afraid to dig them up.
