Back in February, Conor Oberst was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl after a concert in 2003. He vehemently denied the claims and subsequently sued for $1.2 million for defamation. Now Joanie Faircloth (real name Joan Elizabeth Harris), the woman who accused Oberst of rape, has issued a public apology to the singer-songwriter, admitting the allegations were made up, Pitchfork reports.
"The statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Oberst of raping me are 100% false," Faircloth said in an issued statement. "I made up those lies about him to get attention while I was going through a difficult period in my life and trying to cope with my son's illness. I publicly retract my statements about Conor Oberst, and sincerely apologize to him, his family, and his fans for writing such awful things about him. I realize that my actions were wrong and could undermine the claims of actual sexual assault victims and for that I also apologize. I'm truly sorry for all the pain that I caused."
A representative for Oberst said that the apology was sent today after seven month of failed attempts to reach Faircloth.
Faircloth first accused Oberst of rape via a now-deleted anonymous comment on the post "It Happened To Me: I Dated A Famous Rock Star & All I Got Was Punched In The Face" published on the website XOJane.com back in December. She alleged that she was introduced to Oberst backstage at a concert 10 years ago and that he raped her.
It was recently revealed that the allegations had a negative impact on Oberst's most recent album. It was also reported that he had been dropped by his record label, but that was later found to be untrue.
Hopefully Oberst is able to finally clear his name and move past this incident.
Take a look at the notarized statement below, and leave us your thoughts in the comments section!
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