Giancarlo Granda is the Miami-born real estate professional who publicly alleged in 2020 that he had carried on a seven-year sexual relationship with Becki Falwell, the wife of Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., while Falwell watched. His account, backed by emails, text messages, audio recordings, and FaceTime screenshots given to Reuters, forced Falwell’s resignation from one of the country’s largest Christian universities and reopened questions about the evangelical right’s embrace of Donald Trump.
Who Granda Is
Granda was born in 1991 in Miami to immigrant parents from Cuba and Mexico. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Florida International University in 2016 and a master’s degree in real estate finance and development from Georgetown University in 2020.1Audible. Giancarlo Granda He lives in the Washington, D.C., metro area.2HarperCollins. Giancarlo Granda
When his path first crossed the Falwells’, he was 20 years old and working as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel. The “pool boy” shorthand that followed him through news coverage traces to that job, and Granda has said reclaiming his identity from it was part of why he eventually told his version in public.
How He Met the Falwells
In March 2012, according to Granda’s account, Becki Falwell approached him on the pool deck at the Fontainebleau, flirted with him, and invited him to a hotel room, telling him her husband “liked to watch.”3Politico. Jerry Falwell Pool Attendant Granda said that when he arrived, Jerry Falwell Jr. was there, and the three discussed the parameters of a sexual encounter before it took place.4ABC News. Pool Attendant Details Alleged Relationship With Becki, Jerry Falwell
That first meeting, Granda has said, began a sexual relationship with the couple that lasted roughly seven years. He alleged the encounters happened multiple times per year at hotels in Miami and New York and at the Falwells’ home in Virginia, with Jerry Falwell Jr. sometimes watching from the corner of the room or through video cameras.5Reuters. Special Report: The Falwell Relationship Jerry Falwell Jr. has acknowledged that his wife had an affair with Granda but has consistently denied any personal participation, calling it a “brief 2012 affair” and accusing Granda of attempted extortion.4ABC News. Pool Attendant Details Alleged Relationship With Becki, Jerry Falwell
The Miami Beach Hostel Partnership
About a year after meeting the Falwells, Granda became their business partner. In February 2013, a company called Alton Hostel LLC bought a building at 810 Alton Road in South Beach for $4.7 million.6Miami Herald. Alton Hostel LLC Property In an affidavit filed in later litigation, Jerry Falwell Jr. said the Falwells provided a $1 million loan for the purchase and an additional $800,000 for renovations. The entity was managed by Trey Falwell, Jerry Jr.’s son, and Granda held roughly a 25 percent stake in exchange for serving as the local manager.7BuzzFeed News. Jerry Falwell Affidavit
The property produced multiple legal disputes. A high school friend of Granda’s named Jesus Fernandez Jr., who later changed his name to Gordon Bello, and his father sued the Falwells and Granda in 2017, claiming they had been promised a 50 percent ownership stake and were cut out of the deal.8Miami Herald. Falwell Hostel Lawsuit That case settled in federal court in 2019, with Falwell paying an undisclosed sum.9New York Times. Falwell Bello Fontainebleau Settlement
Granda has said his own split with the Falwells was rooted in the business, not the sex. By his account, Falwell offered to buy out his share of the hostel at a meeting in May 2015 but never paid.3Politico. Jerry Falwell Pool Attendant His later attempts to collect, he says, are what the Falwells recast as extortion. As of early 2024, Granda maintained he still held an ownership stake in the property, though his name had been removed from corporate filings in 2023.6Miami Herald. Alton Hostel LLC Property
Michael Cohen and the Compromising Photos
The hostel dispute intersected with national politics through Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal attorney. Cohen confirmed in 2020 that he traveled to Florida in 2015 to help Jerry Falwell Jr. retrieve what he described as “personal” and “compromising” photographs of the Falwells.10CNN. Jerry Falwell Jr. Michael Cohen Photos The Miami Herald reported that Becki Falwell said of Cohen that he was “well-connected in Miami” and would “make those photos go away.”11Miami Herald. Falwell Bello Photos
The photos were reportedly tied to the Bello litigation. Gordon Bello told reporters that Cohen’s involvement was a primary reason he changed his name in 2016.12Miami Herald. Michael Cohen Florida Photos Cohen denied that his intervention was linked to securing Falwell’s endorsement of Trump for the 2016 presidential race and called it a personal favor for friends. The timeline, with Cohen’s intervention in 2015 and Falwell’s influential endorsement of Trump in January 2016, has drawn sustained scrutiny ever since.10CNN. Jerry Falwell Jr. Michael Cohen Photos
Going Public in 2020
Granda’s story became public through a Reuters investigation on August 24, 2020. He provided the wire service with emails, text messages, audio recordings, and screenshots of FaceTime calls to support his account.5Reuters. Special Report: The Falwell Relationship One recording captured a voice identified as Becki Falwell expressing frustration about Granda telling her about other relationships, with Jerry Falwell Jr. reportedly heard saying, “You’re going to make her jealous.”13The Hill. Former Business Associate Says He Had Years-Long Affair
Jerry Falwell Jr. had already been placed on indefinite leave from Liberty University on August 7, 2020. When the Reuters report ran, the board of trustees concluded that “additional matters came to light” making his return untenable, and Falwell resigned that evening after a brief back-and-forth over whether he would.14ABC News. Jerry Falwell Jr. Officially Resigns From Liberty University Liberty’s board stated the conduct conflicted with the university’s honor code, which prohibits sexual relations “outside of a biblically ordained marriage,” and retained a forensic accounting firm to investigate the university’s financial, real estate, and legal operations during Falwell’s tenure.15CBS News. Jerry Falwell Jr. Liberty University Investigation Scandal
Extortion or Predation: The Competing Accounts
The central dispute has always been about who held the power. Jerry Falwell Jr. framed the situation as a years-long extortion scheme, telling the Washington Examiner he and his wife were being blackmailed. In a text he provided to Reuters, Falwell wrote to Granda: “You should by now understand that I will not be extorted.”5Reuters. Special Report: The Falwell Relationship
Granda has rejected that framing. He said he was negotiating a buyout from their shared business and called the Falwells “predators” who had “preyed upon” him. “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,” he told Reuters.5Reuters. Special Report: The Falwell Relationship
In his 2022 book, Granda alleged the Falwells had made “half a dozen” or more sex tapes of his encounters with Becki, which he said functioned as an “unspoken form of blackmail” to keep him compliant. Becki Falwell acknowledged making sex tapes but said Granda consented. Jerry Falwell Jr. accused Granda of threatening to “take the kamikaze route” and falsely claim Falwell participated if the relationship soured.16People. Falwells Sex Tapes Hanging Over My Head No criminal charges were ever filed against anyone in connection with the extortion or blackmail allegations.
The Liberty University Lawsuits
Granda is not a party to the civil litigation that followed, but the suits turned on his account. In October 2020, Falwell filed a defamation and breach of contract lawsuit against Liberty University, then voluntarily dropped it in December 2020, with the Lynchburg Circuit Court granting dismissal without prejudice.17Virginia Business. Jerry Falwell Jr. Drops Defamation Lawsuit Against Liberty University
In April 2021, Liberty sued Falwell for more than $10 million, alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and statutory conspiracy. The university claimed Falwell had concealed Granda’s “extortive actions” and the resulting threat to the institution while negotiating a 2019 employment agreement with a higher salary, and had also concealed issues related to “personal impairment by alcohol.”18NBC News. Jerry Falwell Jr. Sued by Liberty University for Millions Granda called the suit a continuation of a “false narrative” and said the truth about the Falwells’ “predatory behavior and corruption” would come out in time.19Virginia Business. Liberty University Files $10M Suit Against Falwell
In July 2024, the two sides announced a “global resolution agreement.” Tax filings later obtained by reporters showed Liberty University paid Falwell more than $15 million: $5.5 million to settle the lawsuits and $9.7 million as part of a retirement package. Falwell paid the university $440,000 to resolve “disputed expenses.”20Yahoo News. Jerry Falwell Jr. $15 Million Settlement Both parties acknowledged “errors in judgment and mistakes” and agreed to make no further public statements about the matter.21Liberty University. Liberty University Trustees, Jerry Falwell Jr. Announce Settlement Agreement
Granda’s Book and the Hulu Documentary
Granda told his version at length in two projects released in late 2022. His book, Off the Deep End: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty, co-written with Mark Ebner, was published on October 25, 2022, by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins.22HarperCollins. Off the Deep End It covers the sexual relationship, the business entanglements, and death threats he says he received.
The documentary God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty, directed by Billy Corben, premiered on Hulu on November 1, 2022. It drew on interviews with Granda along with text messages and testimony from his family, and connected the Falwells’ personal conduct to Jerry Falwell Jr.’s early endorsement of Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primary.23CNN. God Forbid Review24Hulu Press. God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty
Where Things Stand
In September 2024, Jerry and Becki Falwell returned to the Liberty University campus for the first time since 2020, attending a homecoming football game in prominent seating after the settlement lifted the ban that had kept them away.25Religion News Service. Jerry Falwell Is Back, and It’s Bad for Everyone Granda, who finished his Georgetown master’s in 2020, has said he is focused on family and new business ventures, and continues to live in the D.C. area.2HarperCollins. Giancarlo Granda