Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized on Wednesday for posting a photo of himself on Instagram with his pants unzipped and his arm around a woman with her pants similarly unzipped.
Falwell has since deleted the post which appeared to be taken on a yacht and showed the school president’s underwear as well as a drink in his hand. He defended the incident saying he was on vacation and it was a “costume party” that was “just in good fun.”
After posting the photo, Falwell immediately received sharp backlash and charges of hypocrisy from both Republicans and Democrats as his evangelical university is known for its extremely strict set of rules. Liberty University not only prohibits students from having sexual relations outside of a “biblically-ordained” marriage but also forbids kissing and hugging lasting longer than three seconds. The school also prohibits students from consuming media with lewd lyrics, sexual content and nudity as well as counsels “appropriateness” and “modesty” in the students’ dress.
During an interview with a local radio station in Falwell’s hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia, the school president said, “I’ve apologized to everybody. And I’ve promised my kids I’m going to try to be — I’m gonna try to be a good boy from here on out.”
The woman in the picture with Falwell is Kathleen Stone, who the president named as his “wife’s assistant.” Falwell said, “She’s a sweetheart and I should never have put it up and embarrassed her.”
He went on to say, “She’s pregnant so she couldn’t get her — she couldn’t get her pants up. And I was like, trying to like — my — I had on a pair of jeans that I hadn’t worn in a long time so I couldn’t get mine zipped either. And so — and so — I just put my belly — I just put my belly out like hers.”
