Another week, another story of the internet using half-truths in place of hard facts.
Joanie Faircloth, who allegedly was sexually assaulted by Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst, came out today and retracted her statement, saying that she made her entire story up for attention. In a notarized letter from her lawyer, the statement goes on to explain the following:
The statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Oberst of raping me are 100 percent 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.
Posted in the comments section of XOJane in December of 2013, Faircloth detailed how Oberst raped her when she was sixteen years old. In response, Oberst filed a lawsuit in February of this year, due to Faircloth’s libelous claims. According to Oberst’s manager and father, as a result of the accusations and trial, Oberst has apparently “sold substantially fewer copies than his prior albums, despite receiving some of the most positive reviews of Oberst’s career,” in an article posted by Buzzfeed.
While we don’t know the ramifications of Faircloth’s statement at this time, we will update you as the story develops. You can see Faircloth’s notarized statement below or directly on Buzzfeed’s website.
