Watch: Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s Caught With His Fly Down; Explanation Roils Twitter

Jerry Falwell, Jr. phoned in to a morning radio show in the wake of an Instagram photo hitting social media that seemed to show the son of Liberty University founder Jerry Falwell standing next to a woman who is not his wife, with both of their trousers unzipped and a beverage in his hand.

Relevant magazine posted about how the photo was picked up on by a reporter for the Houston Chronicle before it disappeared from Falwell's Instagram feed.

Falwell's original Instagram post claimed the drink in his hand was "black water" and "a prop." Some on social media wondered whether Falwell might have been imbibing before he phoned into the radio show on WLNI in Lynchburg, Virginia, where Liberty U. is also located, on Aug. 5

YouTube satirist Mrs. Betty Bowers - whose videos take aim at religious stances some see as hypocritical - posted audio of the call at twitter, together with the controversial photo.

"Here is the audio of a very drunk Jerry Falwell, Jr. calling into a *morning* radio show to explain (unintentionally) why he looked like a drunk, unzipped mess on his yacht," Bowers' tweet said.

Here is the audio of a very drunk Jerry Falwell, Jr. calling into a *morning* radio show to explain (unintentionally) why he looked like a drunk, unzipped mess on his yacht. He had posted this photo on Instagram, which would have gotten a student kicked out of his own @LibertyU. pic.twitter.com/ouzZIZ5c07– Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) August 5, 2020

"He had posted this photo on Instagram, which would have gotten a student kicked out of his own @LibertyU," the tweet added.

The photo initially made the news earlier this week, when it was shared on social media, where it swiftly drew criticism.

Posted one Twitter user who claimed to be a Liberty U. alum:

"Imagine posting this while living in the dorms. This would have been at least one required meeting with the office of student leadership or Resident Director"

Imagine posting this while living on the dorms.

This would have been at least one required meeting with the office of student leadership or Resident Director

I'm not for legalism, but I do think we should keep figureheads accountable for how they represent their community pic.twitter.com/UiTpnT5ENZ– Give Me Liberty-Post Grad (@People_Of_LU) August 3, 2020

Asked about the photo, Falwell said, "You know, it was weird. She was pregnant - she couldn't get her pants zipped. And I was trying to, like... I had on a pair of jeans I hadn't worn in a long time, so I couldn't get mine zipped, either. And I put my belly out like hers."

As Falwell relates the story, the show's host can be heard laughing uproariously.

Falwell goes on to say that the woman in the photo is "my wife's assistant." Saying that the woman was "a sweetheart," he added, "I should never have put it up and embarrassed her... anyway, I've apologized to everybody. I've promised my kids I'm gonna try to be a good boy from here on out."