LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – JULY 09: Conor Oberst performs on stage at KOKO on July 9, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Phil Bourne/Redferns via Getty Images)
Joanie Faircloth, the woman who claimed in the comments section of an xoJane article (the comments have since been deleted) that Conor Oberst raped her ten years ago, has admitted to making the story up. The comments appeared under a December 2013 article written by an anonymous contributor, who had herself been abused by a famous rock star boyfriend. Oberst responded with a harsh denial of the events after the news began to spread, but Faircloth hadn’t responded publicly yet. Today, a notarized statement saying the accusations were “100% false” was made public. It’s unclear how this will affect the libel suit the singer filed against Faircloth. The full statement, via Buzzfeed, is below:
“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. 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.”
