There are two separate controversies this week over rape stories that have been challenged by critics. Both stories involve leading U.S. universities. Unlike the Duke Lacrosse controversy, neither school is accused of wrongdoing. Rolling Stone magazine has apologized for shocking failures in reporting a sensational rape story where a woman named Jackie alleged that she was gang raped at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, but the Washington Post reported on discrepancies in the account, including the fact that no party was held at the fraternity on the day in question. In the meantime, Lena Dunham’s story of being raped in college has been challenged as containing discrepancies and the man who has faced the most accusations is now considering a libel lawsuit against the author and director.
The Rolling Stone Controversy
Rolling Stone magazine ran the story containing detailed accounts of the rape of Jackie, but it agreed to a demand by the alleged victim not to interview with accused man. It was an astonishing lapse of journalistic principles and the magazine also failed to fully investigate the details of the alleged rape. Notably, however, the magazine issued an apology but then removed this line: “In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie’s account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced.” That line was replaced with this line “These mistakes are on Rolling Stone, not on Jackie.”
The story “A Rape on Campus” by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, discussed how Jackie was a freshman in 2012 when she was forced to perform oral sex by seven men at the prestigious Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house. Various people raised questions over the reporting, including the fact that some of Jackie’s closest friends questioned her account despite Erdely’s insistence that her friends’ accounts were “consistent” with her story. These inconsistencies include Jackie’s initial claim, according to friends and the Washington Post, that she had been raped by 5 men and then later claiming it was 7. Other friends said that there was an absence of any physical injury despite the claim of the magazine that she emerged bloodied and battered. The fraternity also said that there was no party on the day identified by Jackie and that her identification of “Drew” did not match anyone at the house and that in conflict with her claims, no one at the house worked as lifeguards at the pool. One of the named attackers was from a different house and no one by his name is a member at the Phi Kappa Psi. The man named said that he never met Jackie.
The fact that the magazine agreed not to interview the accused was widely condemned. The magazine stated that “[b]ecause of the sensitive nature of Jackie’s story, we decided to honor her request not to contact the man who she claimed orchestrated the attack on her nor any of the men who she claimed participated in the attack for fear of retaliation against her.” A Rolling Stone editor claimed that it could not reach some of the men, though others including the Post were able to do so.
The Post details clearly identified individuals who were never contacted by the magazine. The Post reported that the person identified in the Rolling Stone story as “Cindy” told it that Erdely’s version of events was “completely false.”
The story of the brutal rape is still available on the Internet with the addition of the apology.
The Lena Dunham Controversy
A man named “Barry” is reportedly considering a libel lawsuit against Lena Dunham for her account of being raped at Oberlin College. She supplied details of the rape by a “mustachioed campus Republican” named Barry. Dunham’s widely acclaimed memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, included an identification of Barry as the rapist and describes him as a 19-year-old student who was known as a “poor loser” at poker with a flamboyant mustache who worked at the campus library and hosted a radio talk show. She also stated that Barry was the “campus’s resident conservative.”
The seemed to reduce the suspects to one man named Barry who was on the campus at the time and named Barry who claims that he has been hounded by the allegation that he is a rapist and that Dunham has refused to speak with him or clear his name.
Dunham’s high visibility has made the rape allegation international news and that has magnified the alleged injury to Barry. She received a $3.7 million advance for the memoir and is a leading producer, writer, and director, including her celebrated work on on the HBO series Girls.
Dunham not only claims that Barry raped her but gives highly graphic details of the encounter. She also quotes a friend who said that after she “once her friend Julia woke up the morning after sex with Barry, and the wall was spattered with blood. Spattered, she said, “like a crime scene.” But he was nice and took her for the morning-after pill and named the baby they weren’t having.”
The conservative website Breitbart has investigated the claims and identified what it says are clear discrepancies. The Washington Post blog has said that those discrepancies offer a solid basis for a libel action.
It is difficult to judge the merits of the claim. However, a libel lawsuit could force a response from Dunham and discovery into her account. Such an action could be based on not just libel but false light. The latter tort is defined
in Restatement (Second) of Torts, Sec. 652E as:
(1) the portrayal must be found to be “highly offensive to a reasonable person” and
(2) the actor had knowledge of or acted in reckless disregard as to the falsity of the publicized matter and the false light in which the other would be placed.
The risk for Dunham is that there may be enough details — and alleged discrepancies — to get such a case to discovery and possibly trial. Discovery could result in depositions of an array of acquaintances and Dunham herself under oath. “Barry” has reportedly set up a donation site to pay for “costs and related fees associated with defending Barry’s reputation including, but not limited to, potentially pursuing Lena Dunham and Penguin Random House for harm caused to Barry’s reputation from the publication and sale of Ms. Dunham’s memoir.”
MsJet,
Universities am have shown some compassion, but I sure as heck haven’t seen any here regarding Eric Garner, the Rice boy, or the black man buying the BB gun in Walmart. Wha I’ve seen instead is an overblown response to two possible false rape allegations. MsJet, I worked as a nurse for 35 years, I saw life and death, illness and suffering of ALL kinds of people. I witnessed great acts of compassion and despicable acts of selfishness and uncaring. So I suggest I did my “growing up” in the rooms of the patients I took care of and the families, nurses, docs, social workers and strangers I interacted with for those 35 years.
Inga – stay on topic for Christ’s sake.
“All that “evidence” and STILL justice wasn’t served in the Eric Garner case. Where is the outrage? Where is the empathy, the compassion?”
Turn the TV on to any news channel and you’ll have your answer.
Where is the outrage? Where is the empathy, the compassion?
We already told you. All used up on fake outrage. Incidents that are blown out of proportion by the media and by others to prove some sort of an agenda and which later are proven to be out and out lies.
Too much fakery. Too many lies to get all excited or outraged until we know the truth. Too many people trying to pull our strings.
Used up and burned up.
“A possible false allegation of rape garners outrage far beyond what was expressed when innocent black men and a boy were wrongly killed”
You can’t be serious! Even the Ivy league colleges are letting victims by-proxy of the Eric Garner story delay their test taking, if they are affected by the grand jury’s decision. Ridiculous! Grow the efff up and take your test because in the real world, you don’t get breaks like this, unless you are the Huff Po. lol
Next. . .
*false rape allegations*
All that “evidence” and STILL justice wasn’t served in the Eric Garner case. Where is the outrage? Where is the empathy, the compassion? Spent on frat boys. I’m not commenting on the Brown case. Now get back to the topic of false of allegations, Haz.
Also someone mentioned it was a liberal white woman accusing a conservative white man of sexual assault. I knew the Duke La Cross accuser was a black female but did not know the race of this UVA female accuser.
“Alleged” indeed. There is no proof, no evidence. There has been no trial. There are no charges.
In the Brown and Garner cases, there was a massive amount of evidence collected, and grand juries were impaneled. All that happened in the UVA and Dunham stories is that an article was published and retracted, and a book was published, and the publisher is now trying to buy its way out of a legal problem.
Bid difference!
Karen S ~ Here are some excerpts: http://www.siftingsherald.com/article/ZZ/20141103/News/311039993
Lena Dunham Cancels Appearances Amid Molestation Accusations: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/lena-dunham-cancels-book-tour-dates-amid-molestation/story?id=26660693
Oh, so there was ANOTHER conservative at the time who worked at the library and hosted a conservative radio show, and it’s a complete coincidence that she used the name “Barry” which matched a person with that exact description?
Yeah, quite the coinkydink, innit?
MH >> This thread is about the alleged rape at UVA and the “alleged” false accusation of rape made by Lena Dunham in her book?
Haz, I am comparing the level of empathy between the two types of crimes. A possible false allegation of rape garners outrage far beyond what was expressed when innocent black men and a boy were wrongly killed. That has been my main focus in this entire thread. Why did I need to spell that out for you?
@Karen: There was no blood-splattered wall. It was a fiction. Jackie’s roommates and friends have confirmed that there was no blood, no bloody clothes, no injuries to Jackie immediately after the alleged rape, Some of her support group have distanced themselves from her because of the lack of evidence and her changing story.
Stop changing the story. This thread is about the alleged rape at UVA and the false accusation of rape made by Lena Dunham in her book. It is not about Michael Brown or Eric Garner. Stay on the topic.
“Inga
Haz,
IF charges are filed. Which they should be if the charge of rape is true. Men should teach their sons not to rape.”
You don’t get to say that anymore. Not after Rolling Stone and Jackie tried to burn a university, frat, and seven young men to the ground. The sexual assault epidemic crowd and single issue activists needs to go sit in the corner while adults talk about the problem.
The Emily Clark letter, as far as for a criminal evidence purpose, is not fully sufficient to corroborate the veracity of the story but could be used to add to the notion as supportive of a victim’s claim if contemporaneous with past events. If it was to be entered into evidence it would require a sworn statement but would be based upon hearsay of the facts of the alleged rapes.
There is no evidence to support a position that this subject is at all related to partisan issues coming into play with the accusers, victims, or third parties involved. The events alleged happened well before those mentioned in the recent police shootings that have garnered much interest in the press as of late. To claim that they are is a red herring.
The burden of proof in a felony is proof beyond a reasonable doubt and a preponderance of evidence in a civil action. If the statement of an alleged victim is shown to be inconsistent or not credible and that is effectively the largest basis for the crime or tort then the law is such that a prosecution will not prevail on behalf of the alleged victim or against the defendant. It does not matter in the eyes of the law if the victim proffers that he/she was right in their statement but if it is not credible then others can reasonably affirm their own statements that the alleged victim was not credible in their statements and any publication of that fact is permissible. Moreover the accused defendant in the case will have standing for a libel suit against those who negligently pursued a damaging publication where standard and reasonable care outside the scope of professional journalism will add to that libel tort.
And here we see some of the same types of jumps to conclusion that got the magazine into trouble.
An investigative folly is to assume a conclusion before the investigation based upon pre-conceived notions. If that occurs there is a tendency to investigate leads and obtain evidence to only support this false assumption. The outcome with such investigation frequently does not end well.
Here is a link to the WaPo article that questions many of “Jackie’s” allegations and her ever-changing story. Link.
Michael Haz – thanks for the link. The evidence is just going to confuse some people.
Karen how about the big black man who was choked to death? You didn’t mention him. Or the 12 year old playing with a toy gun in the park. Or the guy at the Walmart carrying the BB gun he was going to buy?
Inga – you cannot stick to the topic of the thread can you. Women need to teach their daughters not to lie about rape.
I haven’t read Dunham’s book (and only have seen her once on some 2 minute interview so don’t know anything about her.
I do know that publishers are very concerned about liability issues. It makes sense for Barry to have been made up, or an amalgam of a bunch of men etc. It makes no sense, to me, that the publisher would say, hey, this never went to trial and you are accusing this man of rape but hey, whats the worst that can happen? We’ll get sued for libel?. Makes us no never mind.
Haz,
IF charges are filed. Which they should be if the charge of rape is true. Men should teach their sons not to rape.