Here's How Much Severance Falwell Is Getting

$10.5M, because he's resigning from Liberty University in good standing
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 26, 2020 1:34 AM CDT
Falwell Will Get $10.5M in Severance
In this, Nov. 13 2019, file photo, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. talks to Donald Trump Jr. about his new book "Triggered" during convocation at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.   (Emily Elconin/The News & Advance via AP, File)

Jerry Falwell Jr. has officially resigned from Liberty University, and he told the Washington Post on Tuesday night that he'll get $10.5 million in severance, as specified in his contract. That's because he resigned in good standing, without being formally accused of or admitting to any wrongdoing. "The board was gracious not to challenge that," he tells the newspaper. "There wasn’t any cause. I haven’t done anything." He'll get $2.5 million over two years, the equivalent of what his salary would have been during that same period, and he's agreed not to work for a competing university during those years. At the end of that period, he'll get the rest of his severance in retirement. A source tells Fox News that Falwell has agreed to consult for Liberty during the transition to a new president.

His resignation comes, of course, on the heels of a controversial photo showing him with his wife's scantily-clad assistant, which was quickly followed by Falwell's admission that his wife had had an affair. Reports have claimed the affair lasted years and Falwell would watch his wife and her lover have sex; Falwell claims the man tried to extort the couple, and his wife denies Falwell watched, per Fox News. Her alleged lover on Tuesday issued new accusations against Falwell, claiming he shared inappropriate photos of a Liberty student; Falwell tells the Post it was simply a funny, non-sexual image of a friend of his daughters-in-law. Also Tuesday, Falwell confirmed it was President Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen who helped him years ago when someone tried to blackmail the Falwells over sensitive photos. Cohen claims he asked Falwell, as a "personal favor," to endorse President Trump during the 2016 campaign. (More Jerry Falwell Jr. stories.)

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