Jerry Falwell Jr. Reveals His Wife Had An Affair With Florida Pool Boy Who Allegedly Blackmailed Them

Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. revealed on Sunday that his wife had an affair with a family friend, which sent him into a state of depression where he also had to deal with threats of blackmail.

Falwell gave a statement to the Washington Examiner, explaining that his wife, Becki Falwell, had the affair with a pool boy she and her husband befriended years ago while staying at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Falwell did not identify the attendant by name, but numerous publications have identified him as Giancarlo Granda and taken note of Granda’s relationship with the family, their real-estate venture together, and dozens of news stories involving them both over the years.

Falwell went on to describe the emotional toll of his wife’s affair, though he said that the two of them have reconciled with each other over the years. However, he goes on to say his wife’s lover tried to extort them by threatening to expose the relationship unless they gave him money, and the situation escalated to the point where Falwell said he felt there was no choice but to go public.

“It was like living on a roller coaster,” said Falwell. “While completely dedicating ourselves to Liberty, we were also suffering in silence during our personal time together, while simultaneously trying to manage and deal with this increasingly threatening behavior, which only worsened over time. We were doing our best to respectfully unravel this ‘fatal attraction’ type situation to protect our family and the University.

Granda denied the allegations against him, telling the Examiner “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,” he said. “The WHOLE truth will come out.”

The revelations come shortly after Falwell was put on indefinite suspension from his leadership positions at Liberty University. This stemmed from an embarrassing incident involving a deleted Instagram photo of Falwell putting his arm around his wife’s assistant at a yacht party.