Falwell knew of what he spoke. A year and a half later, he would resign in disgrace from Liberty University, the evangelical college his father founded in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a series of personal scandals that would make even Trump blush. Among them was the allegation that Giancarlo Granda, a boy in Miami, had a seven-year affair with Falwell’s wife, Becky, sometimes with Falwell looking on and masturbating during their sexual encounters. Granda also became entangled with the couple’s business affairs in a web that eventually led them all to Trump. The sorry and crazy saga is told in God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty, streaming on Hulu starting Tuesday. It’s a “dynasty” because Falwell’s father, Jerry Falwell Sr., was a homophobic televangelist whose support helped Ronald Reagan (a divorced former Hollywood actor) defeat Jimmy Carter (a Baptist Sunday school teacher) in the 1980 presidential contest and start a conservation project. which culminated in the collapse of the constitutional right to abortion. “This documentary at its core is the story of a 50-year, multi-generational evangelical dynasty and their enormous power in presidential politics and policy,” director Billy Corben says by phone from New York. “You have the man who is now the black sheep of the Falwell family—and excommunicated—who was able to fulfill his father’s and Reagan’s key political promise when evangelicals first entered politics.” Or as one of the film’s contributors says: “The Falwells are the Gatsby of the South. They’re rich and they’re sloppy as fuck.” The star of God’s Way is Granda, who is of Cuban descent and worked as a pool attendant at the luxury Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Florida, a former haunt of singer Frank Sinatra. He recounts the day in 2012 when, aged 20, he saw an attractive woman in her forties lounging by the pool, having a drink and taking his picture. He said to him, “Don’t waste your time with the younger ones. They don’t know what they’re doing.” He asked if she wanted to come to her room, then added, “One thing, though. My husband wants to watch.” Granda was surprised but agreed. As he and the woman began to make love, he says, “the husband gets up … goes to the corner of the room. He takes off his jeans and it just started coming off.” (Falwell declined to participate in the film, but has previously denied being present at such intimate moments.) Now 31, Granda says wistfully as the film opens, “Had I known that accepting this woman’s invitation to return to her hotel room would have led to a scandal involving the president of the world’s largest Christian university and President of the United States, I would have left and enjoyed my private life.” But at first, Granda didn’t see himself as a victim. He didn’t know who Jerry and Becky Falwell were until his sister told him. Corben, 44, who is based in Miami, says: “He told me he didn’t think they were particularly hypocritical at first because he didn’t know them as religious leaders. They did not convert him. He saw them as a fun couple in Miami Beach. “Los Angeles is where you go when you want to be somebody, New York is where you go when you’re somebody, and Miami is where you go when you want to be somebody else. It’s always been a sunny place for shady people, and Jerry and Becky certainly benefited from Miami that way. They lived their best life in Miami. They had a great time and that’s why Miami: come down, spend a little money, party, have consensual safe sex with adults. Large! Do it.” But when Granda visited Liberty University, it opened his eyes. The institution had a strict code of conduct, known as “The Liberty Way,” which prohibited students from drinking alcohol, gambling, attending dances, and being alone in a room with a member of the opposite sex. Former students alleged that Liberty dismissed and discouraged reports of rape and threatened to punish accusers. Corben continues: “Initially he was hypnotized by power and privilege and money and was brought into this inner circle of the most powerful people in the world. He was suddenly a part of it. But then he began to feel bad for the students and faculty at Liberty and the disconnect between their values and the values of their leadership at the university. “There weren’t many of the Ten Commandments that the Falwells seem to hold particularly dear. While they were out violating these orders, they were proactively running into and ruining the lives of the people entrusted to them. “Where Jerry Jr. seemed to enjoy the power and privilege that came from being president of the largest Christian university in the world, he did not necessarily live the life he demanded of his students and faculty. It was ‘Do as I say, not as I do,’ and that kind of hypocrisy Giancarlo would later find dangerous not only to Liberty but to the country.” Giancarlo Granda in 2020. Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters Granda and Becki’s relationship continued for years. They texted each other obsessively and she told him she loved him. Sometimes they met without Falwell, which Falwell tolerated as long as Becki recorded the meeting on her camera. Granda attended the wedding of Jerry and Becki’s oldest son, Trey, in 2014. The Falwells even did business with Granda, backing a $4.7 million youth hostel in Miami that she co-owned and helped manage. But then an old school friend of Granda’s, Jesus Fernandez Jr., and his father, Jesus Fernandez Sr., complained that Falwell had promised them a deal breaker. They sued and allegedly threatened to release sexual photos of Granda and Becki. Panicked, Falwell turned to his acquaintance Michael Cohen, who, as Trump’s lawyer and fixer, had a knack for making problems work like Tom Hagen, the Corleone family’s adviser and chief lawyer in The Godfather. Of course, the photos were never published and the lawsuit was settled. Cohen later wrote in his memoirs: “In time, I would do this favor, not for myself, but for [Trump]at a critical moment in his journey to the presidency.” Corben muses: “We wouldn’t know any of this if it weren’t for this weird real estate row and what Giancarlo and even Gerry described as a shakedown. “In an attempt to settle this real estate dispute, this Miami father and son team, originally recruited to help them find a property to buy, claimed to know the true nature of the relationship between Giancarlo and Becky. and Jerry and that they were going to expose it, including photographs that they claimed proved the nature of the relationship, if Jerry and Giancarlo did not come to terms with that claim.” Granda describes how the Falwells introduced him to Trump and says Falwell told her in 2015 that Cohen had asked him to endorse Trump for president. In January of the following year, as the Republican primaries began, Falwell duly did so—a move crucial to giving the Christian Right (including Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence) permission to embrace a three-times-married man accused of for sexual misconduct. scores of women and less than intimate familiarity with the Bible. Falwell would later remark, “God called King David a man after God’s own heart, even though he was an adulterer and a murderer. You have to choose the leader who would make the best king or president and not necessarily someone who would be a good pastor. We don’t vote for a lead pastor.” Jerry Falwell Jr and Donald Trump in 2017. Photo: Yuri Gripas/Reuters In Falwell’s eyes, Trump could do no wrong. With religious fire and brimstone she defended Trump through every blunder and tantrum and lie of his presidency, while Becky served on the advisory board of the group Women for Trump. Granda admits: “I felt guilty. I know the truth about Jerry. He tries to look like this strong man, but I know him as the doll in the corner of the room.” In 2019, a recording of Cohen explaining how he made the “racing” photos disappear was released to the public. Grandma thought about killing herself. He texted Becky: “My life is completely ruined. When they find my lifeless body hanging in the woods, make sure Logan [his dog] returned to my family. Bye.” He says his relationship with the Falwells soured because of his desire to break free as well as a business dispute. Granda texted Falwell: “As long as you don’t mind ruining my life, I’ll go the kamikaze route. It’s a real shame because I wanted us to come to a peaceful resolution and just get on with our lives, but if conflict is what you want, then so be it.” He also decided he needed to stop Falwell from helping Trump — whom he had seen as a would-be dictator — take power in 2020. Granda gave an interview to Reuters to tell his story. In a biblical fall from grace, Falwell was forced to resign as president of Liberty University, which is suing him for $40 million for breach of contract. Trump lost his re-election bid to Joe Biden, but evangelicals had already made their deal with the devil. Their reward came in June of this year, when the high court, with three Trump appointees, did something even Reagan could not deliver: overturning Roe v Wade, its 1973 decision that enshrined a woman’s right to abortion. Corben says: “I hope people will see how dangerous this level is…
