Lee Beaman is back on the Belmont University board of trustees following his highly publicized divorce — a proceeding filled with allegations of verbal and sexual abuse from his fourth wife, Kelley Beaman.
The Nashville automobile mogul and conservative political donor stepped away from the board in 2018 after divorce court documents filed by Kelley Beaman alleged physical and emotional cruelty by Lee Beaman throughout their 17-year marriage.
Kelley Beaman’s 20-page divorce brief alleges that he:
— “Used sex as a weapon of humiliation and degradation.”
— Hired a prostitute to engage in a threesome with the couple.
— Secretly viewed porn in the presence of his minor child.
— Kept a list of women he wanted to have sex with in his wallet.
— Verbally abused Kelley Beaman in the presence of their child, including telling her, “People have been murdered for what you did,” something he admits to saying in reference to her infidelity late in the marriage.
Lee Beaman returned to Belmont’s board in early 2021.
Belmont’s employee handbook, as most recently revised in 2021 holds the members of its community to high standards.
According to the handbook: “As a community seeking to uphold Christian standards of morality and ethics, Belmont University holds high ideals and expectations of each person who chooses to join the community.”
The handbook doesn’t provide an explicit statement about how employees and board members must conduct themselves regarding private matters.
Lee Beaman’s lawyers called the allegations “‘immaterial, impertinent and scandalous matter only meant to harass Mr. Beaman,” according to documents filed with the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
His lawyers did not dispute the accuracy of the claims, the Vision reported in September 2018.
In 2017, Lee Beaman also donated $2,700 to Roy Moore’s special election campaign for U.S. Senate, a donation made three days after The Washington Post broke a story alleging Moore had a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32.
The Belmont Vision attempted to reach out to Lee Beaman, President Greg Jones, former chairman of the board Marty Dickens and current chair Milton Johnson through the Belmont Office of Communications for comments on Lee Beaman’s return.
The office responded by saying it would like to stick with a statement provided to the Vision on Jan. 24.
“In 2018, Lee Beaman requested and was granted a leave of absence from Belmont’s Board of Trustees until his family dispute was resolved,” the statement reads. “That situation—a private family issue—has since been settled.”
“Mr. Beaman volunteers his time, expertise and resources to support our students and Belmont’s mission through his role on the Board,” the statement said.
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PHOTO: Belmont Vision Multimedia
This article was written by Sarah Maninger, Anna Jackson, David Pang and Connor Daryani.