Esteemed singer-songwriter Conor Oberst has been submitted to some pretty nasty media scrutiny and online accusations since he was made the subject of a rape allegation late last year, but now his accuser has issued a public statement retracting her accusations, saying the whole thing is nothing but BS.
Joanie Faircloth of North Carolina, who’ll now go down in the books as probably the worst Bright Eyes fan ever, originally accused Oberst of rape in an anonymous post on XOJane.com last December but has now recanted on her accusations, explaining they are “100% false” in a notorised statement.
“The statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Oberst of raping me are 100% false,” writes Faircloth in the public statement, issued via Buzzfeed, on Monday.
“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,” she further explains. “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… I’m truly sorry for all the pain that I caused.”In her original posting, Faircloth claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Oberst when she was first introduced to the US musician backstage at a concert a decade ago. Following the reports blowing up online, in January Oberst responded with a US$ 1 million libel lawsuit his accuser, calling the allegations “absolutely unequivocally false.”
Faircloth had made no attempt to legally defend herself or respond to Oberst’s lawsuit until her public apology. “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,” she writes.
The apology was accompanied by a statement from the musician’s publicist saying: “Ms. Faircloth had no physical contact with Mr. Oberst at the Durham, NC show she claimed was the location of the alleged sexual assault.” Aside from the obvious personal turmoil the adverse attention has also had an impact on the 34-year-old’s recording and touring career.
In February, Oberst’s side-project Desaparecidos pulled out of Soundwave 2014 due to “an issue of personal nature,” while Oberst’s father and business manager recently stated that the allegations had affected the sales of Upside Down Mountain.
He explained that Oberst’s latest solo LP had “sold substantially fewer copies than his prior albums, despite receiving some of the most positive reviews of Oberst’s career.” (Including a glowing write-up from Tone Deaf.)
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Oberst senior estimates that the costs suffered from Faircloth’s allegations – not including legal fees and travel expenses – could be as much as US$ 700,000.
A TMZ report also claimed that Oberst’s record label, Nonesuch, had dropped him due to the controversy, costing him a contract worth “at least $200k”, but it proved to be another false rumour.
It’s unclear if Oberst will move forward with the defamation lawsuit, but as SPIN reports, all proceeds from the court case will be donated to a particularly pertinent charity, his publicist confirming “Oberst is seeking to promote the truth and repair the distress this has brought upon him and his family. Oberst intends to donate the proceeds of this suit to charities benefiting the victims of violence against women.”
