Becki Falwell, the wife of Evangelical leader and former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., has admitted to having an affair with a Miami pool boy in 2012.
The 53-year-old went public Tuesday to admit to her affair with now 29-year-old Giancarlo Granda but denied claims that her husband was involved, according to The Washington Post.
Jerry Falwell Jr. recently resigned from the Virginia university following a “string of embarrassing acts,” the Washington Examiner reported, as well as revelations about his wife’s affair and accusations that he participated, The Post added.
Becki Falwell told The Washington Post that she and her husband have since reconciled and that she was embarrassed by her past behavior.
“I wish Christians and people would be as forgiving as Christ was,” she told the paper.
Reuters: “Giancarlo Granda says his sexual relationship with the Falwells began when he was 20. He says he had sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell Jr, head of Liberty University and a staunch supporter of President Trump, looked on.”
On August 23, Jerry Falwell claimed that he was suffering from depression when he was suspended from Liberty earlier this month, the Washington Examiner disclosed. He attributed his mental turmoil to an unnamed friend who had an affair with his wife and was attempting to extort money from him.
Although Falwell did not drop a name, the Examiner identified the accused as Granda, citing a range of older news articles.
Falwell described his wife’s affair as short-lived, according to the Examiner. He said the situation then transpired into a “fatal attraction” type scenario.
“We were doing our best to respectfully unravel this ‘fatal attraction’ type situation to protect our family and the university,” Falwell expressed to the outlet.
Exclusive: @JerryFalwellJr says ‘Fatal Attraction’ threat led to depression.
In statement, he discloses wife’s affair and anxiety to protect her/@LibertyU. “I’m just tired of it,” Falwell told us. “It’s just got to end.”
t.co/FisiUcoz6D
Granda, who was 20 at the time he met the Falwells, has since denied Jerry Falwell’s accusations, insinuating that there is more to the story, the Examiner reported.
In an email sent to the Examiner, Granda wrote:
Any allegation of extortion is falsely, defamatory and belied by clear documentary evidence. The Falwell’s attempt to sandbag me, and the Examiner, with a last minute story without providing the Examiner clear evidence that this was not simply an ‘affair’ with concocted allegations of extortion reeks desperation. The WHOLE truth will come out.
The Miami native denies the extortion allegations and says he was “preyed” upon by the Falwells, Reuters said. Although he “willingly” entered into a 7-year sexual relationship with the couple, he now feels like he was taken advantage of, he told the outlet.
“Whether it was immaturity, naïveté, instability, or a combination thereof, it was this ‘mindset’ that the Falwells likely detected in deciding that I was the ideal target for their sexual escapades,” Granda expressed.
In this 3-way call from 2018, “Becki [Falwell] complained about Granda describing his relationships with other people: ‘He’s like telling me every time he hooks up with people. Like I don’t have feelings or something.’ Jerry then chimed in: ‘You’re going to make her jealous.'”
When their relationship soured, Granda said he sought to “negotiate a buyout” from a business arrangement he had with the pair, Reuters reported.
Here’s what you need to know about Becki Falwell:
1. Becki Falwell Met Jerry Falwell Jr. When She Was 13
Becki Falwell met her husband when she was 13, Heavy previously reported, citing a passage from the book Falwell Inc.: Inside a Religious, Political, Educational, and Business Empire by Dirk Smillie.
The pair started dating when she was a freshman at the University of Virginia and Jerry was a second-year law student.
The couple wed in 1987 at the Prayer Chapel at Liberty University. They now have three children together, including two ѕоnѕ, Charles Wеѕlеу and Jerry “Trey” Falwell III, and one daughter, Саrоlіnе Grасе.
The couple lives in Bedford County, Virginia.
2. Becki Is a Vocal Trump Supporter & Garnered Backlash From Liberty University Students in 2019 for Her Comments on Transgender People
GettyPresident Donald Trump and Jerry Falwell, president of Liberty University, on stage during a commencement at Liberty University May 13, 2017, in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Becki Falwell faced backlash in March 2019 after commenting on her granddaughter Reagan’s gender, Heavy reported.
She expressed during a Conservative Political Action Conference roundtable featuring the Falwells and Donald Trump Jr. that the family was “raising her as a girl. We’re not letting her have a choice. God makes the choice of what the babies are gonna be. And God decided she was a girl.”
Heavy also reported that Becki Falwell and her husband’s endorsement for Donald Trump “was one of the main reasons he won the 2016 Republican primary and Presidency.”
3. Becki Falwell Met Granda While He Was Working as a Pool Attendant at a Miami Hotel
FacebookGiancarlo Granda.
Granda met and befriended the Falwells in 2012 while he was working as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, the New York Times reported. The 20-year-old at the time was also studying finance at Florida International University.
The Falwells, who were staying at the hotel, were “impressed” by Granda, The New York Times reported. They later offered to help the college student start a business.
Jerry Falwell told the Examiner that Becki Falwell had her affair with Granda while he was working long hours at the university — at which he took the reigns following his father’s death in 2007.
But Granda says otherwise.
Reuters reported that Granda provided the outlet with “emails, text messages and other evidence that he says demonstrate the sexual nature of his relationship with the couple.”
“Becki and I developed an intimate relationship and Jerry enjoyed watching from the corner of the room,” Granda said in an interview, adding that they participated in such encounters “multiple times per year” across the east coast.
4. Becki Falwell Partnered With Granda to Open a Miami Hostel
Becki Falwell concocted an agreement in which the Falwells would buy a Miami hostel and put Granda in charge — a move that would later be plagued by legal battles surrounding ownership, according to the Examiner.
The Falwells completed the deal for the Miami Hostel in 2013, The New York Times added.
The hostel, which rents beds for as low as $15 a night, “became known as one of South Beach’s best budget party hostels and is sometimes listed as gay-friendly,” the paper continued.
5. Her Father Was Convicted of Tax Fraud in 2015
GettyJerry Falwell Jr. with his wife Becki Falwell and daughter Caroline.
Tom Tilley, Becki Falwell’s father, was convicted in 2015 in connection to a plot to evade paying federal income taxes, Heavy reported.
Heavy, citing court records, indicated:
Tom donated $250,000 to Liberty University to finance the Tilley Student Center that opened in 2008. But from 1993 to 2010, Tom submitted fraudulent financial documents to the IRS and that he failed to file his taxes despite earning substantial income from being a mobile home mogul in North Carolina.
Tom Tilley was ordered to pay over $7 million in restitution to the IRS, Heavy said.
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