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Tag: Bright Eyes

  • Bright Eyes Accuser Recants Rape Allegation

    A woman who claimed that Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst raped her a decade ago when she was a teenager revealed that she fabricated the entire story.

    Joan Faircloth of Durham, North Carolina first posted an essay entitled It Happened to Me: I Dated a Famous Rock Star & All I Got Was Punched in the Face to the women’s lifestyle website XOJane last December. Faircloth wrote that Oberst “took advantage of my teenage crush on him” after she was introduced to him at a concert when she was 16 and he was in his twenties. Faircloth related that “Conor took a lot from me including my virginity, my dignity and self esteem.” Faircloth went on to submit statements saying that Oberst’s attorneys offered her “hush money” to stop writing about the rape.

    Oberst filed a defamation lawsuit against Faircloth in February, asserting that the rape accusation was “republished by countless media outlets around the world, thus further perpetuating the untrue depiction of Oberst as a rapist. … To add insult to injury, certain media outlets published stories in which Faircloth’s defamatory false statements were characterized as true, and in which Oberst’s fans were actually encouraged to stop supporting his musical career.” A judge issued a default judgement in Oberst’s favor in early July. Court records reveal that Faircloth never responded to the lawsuit, which called her a pathological liar, and requested $1 million in damages.

    Faircloth sent a notarized letter to Oberst’s attorney Monday explaining that “the statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Oberst of raping me are 100% false. 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.”

    Faircloth added, “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.”

    Oberst’s fans took to Twitter:

    Oberst, 34, has yet to respond to the revelation.

    The singer-songwriter, who Rolling Stone describes as “a pain-strumming poet of emo,” formed Bright Eyes in 1995 in Omaha, Nebraska. The band first achieved wide success in 2002 upon the release of the album Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground.

    Here Oberst channels the dream journal of a sullen, yet verbose high school sophomore on “A Perfect Sonnet,” from the 1999 album Every Day And Every Night:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Conor Oberst Sues Woman Over Sexual Assault Claims

    Conor Oberst, best known as the singer for Bright Eyes, filed a libel lawsuit on Wednesday against a young woman who claims he sexually assaulted her after a show ten years ago, when she was 16 years old.

    The woman came forward with her story in the comments section of an xoJane story about a woman and her abusive musician boyfriend, saying that no one believed her when she first came forward because she had been such a huge fan of his beforehand.

    “No one believed me because I had been his biggest fan for several years at that point, his pictures covered my locker, etc. … I want to out him so bad,” she wrote. Later, in a separate post, she said that lots of speculation and rumors were going around that weren’t true. “I wish I could say I was really brave and I was speaking out for the benefit of other victims of rape who may feel discounted in their experiences and alone. But I am not that brave. I am speaking now because everyone else is speaking for me and a lot of it isn’t accurate.”

    The woman said that Oberst flirted with her after the show when they met backstage, and began to get touchy-feely. When she expressed discomfort, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

    Oberst’s reps released a statement in January, saying he was seeking legal counsel.

    “Usually we wouldn’t feel the urge to comment on spurious blog chatter but the recent allegations made about Conor Oberst by an anonymous commenter on the xoJane website are flagrant enough to demand our response. This individual’s accusations are absolutely, unequivocally false. Unfortunately, the internet allows for groundless statements like this to travel the world before the truth has any time to surface. This is a particularly serious and sickening allegation and there is no truth to it. Conor has nothing but abhorrence for the perpetrators of such crimes of sexual violence. The behavior attributed to him by this individual is in direct opposition to his principles. Conor is consulting with a libel attorney regarding this matter,” the statement read.

    According to the rep, Oberst says the accusations are “despicable, false, outrageous, and defamatory statements” and that he is seeking monetary compensation which will be donated to charities benefiting women who have been abused.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Conor Oberst Files Libel Suit After Rape Claim

    Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst has filed a libel lawsuit against a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her.

    On Wednesday an attorney for the singer-songwriter filed the civil suit in a federal court in Manhattan. The suit claims that last December a woman made “despicable, false, outrageous, and defamatory statements” about Oberst.

    According to the suit the “woman posted accusations that Oberst raped her a decade ago in North Carolina after his brother, her middle school English teacher, introduced the two at an Oberst show.” The suit also says she was 16 at the time and that Oberst also punched her in the face.

    The suit also notes that the woman accusing Oberst of sexual assault said she did not come forward about the assault because of the way her family and friends reacted. At her husband’s suggestion she posted the accusations about Oberst 10 years later to help others who have been sexually assaulted. The woman wrote, “Conor took a lot from me including my virginity, my dignity, and self-esteem.”

    However Oberst’s suit is claiming that recently the woman has written posts on social media praising Oberst and Bright Eyes.

    Oberst says the media coverage of these accusations have damaged his career, especially in New York. He also claims he was with “his brother, bandmates or then-girlfriend” at the time the woman claims the assault took place.

    It seems there is a mixed crowd of people on Twitter. Some believe the woman’s accusations, while others believe Oberst is innocent.

    Oberst is seeking monetary damages, attorney fees and other costs in his suit.

    Image via YouTube.