Questions arise on Rolling Stone alleged gang rape at UVA st
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Rolling Stone Sued For $25M By Fraternity Implicated in Rape Story
Rolling Stone was hit Monday with a defamation lawsuit for over $25 million from the University of Virginia fraternity where the magazine reported a young woman was raped in a story later discredited.
In the lawsuit complaint, as obtained by The Washington Post, the Virginia Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi alleges reputational damage (and death threats and harassment against members) due to the Nov. 2014 Rolling Stone story "A Rape on Campus" by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, who is named a defendant with Rolling Stone and publishers Wenner Media and Straight Arrow.
The story told of a University of Virginia freshman named "Jackie" who purportedly went to a "date function" at Phi Kappa Psi, where seven men brutally raped her in a bedroom.
Details quickly emerged challenging the accuracy of the story, leading the publication to commission a review from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism that found the publication had failed to conduct "basic, even routine journalistic practice" in reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking” to confirm Jackie’s story. Rolling Stone officially retracted the story in April, and managing editor Will Dana later left the publication.
The lawsuit Monday is not the first complaint filed over the story; UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo sued in May for $7.5 million, contending she was made the "chief villain" of the story for contact with Jackie she claims never happened, and UVA graduates and former Phi Kappa Psi members George Elias, Stephen Hadford and Ross Fowler sued in July.
Rolling Stone was hit Monday with a defamation lawsuit for over $25 million from the University of Virginia fraternity where the magazine reported a young woman was raped in a story later discredited.
In the lawsuit complaint, as obtained by The Washington Post, the Virginia Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi alleges reputational damage (and death threats and harassment against members) due to the Nov. 2014 Rolling Stone story "A Rape on Campus" by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, who is named a defendant with Rolling Stone and publishers Wenner Media and Straight Arrow.
The story told of a University of Virginia freshman named "Jackie" who purportedly went to a "date function" at Phi Kappa Psi, where seven men brutally raped her in a bedroom.
Details quickly emerged challenging the accuracy of the story, leading the publication to commission a review from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism that found the publication had failed to conduct "basic, even routine journalistic practice" in reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking” to confirm Jackie’s story. Rolling Stone officially retracted the story in April, and managing editor Will Dana later left the publication.
The lawsuit Monday is not the first complaint filed over the story; UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo sued in May for $7.5 million, contending she was made the "chief villain" of the story for contact with Jackie she claims never happened, and UVA graduates and former Phi Kappa Psi members George Elias, Stephen Hadford and Ross Fowler sued in July.
Lawyers for Student at Center of UVA Rape Hoax Say Deposition in Lawsuit Could ‘Re-Traumatize’ Her
Nicole Eramo, UVA’s associate dean, was named in the article and was portrayed as indifferent to Jackie after her claim. She has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone for their “false” portrayal of her actions. She is seeking $7.5 million.
In court documents, Jackie’s attorneys wrote that she should be spared from a deposition because it could cause “significant and undeniable psychological harm” to her and have “shattering and potentially irreparable consequences.”
“Forcing her to revisit her sexual assault, and then the re-victimization that took place after the Rolling Stone article came out, will inevitably lead to a worsening of her symptoms and current mental health,” the attorneys wrote.
Eramo’s attorneys argued that Jackie is a “serial liar” who fabricated the assault.
“There is no evidence whatsoever that the story that Jackie told her friends, or the very different story she told Rolling Stone, actually transpired,” Eramo’s attorneys wrote. “Instead, it appears that Jackie fabricated her perpetrator and the details of the alleged assault.”
Nicole Eramo, UVA’s associate dean, was named in the article and was portrayed as indifferent to Jackie after her claim. She has since filed a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone for their “false” portrayal of her actions. She is seeking $7.5 million.
In court documents, Jackie’s attorneys wrote that she should be spared from a deposition because it could cause “significant and undeniable psychological harm” to her and have “shattering and potentially irreparable consequences.”
“Forcing her to revisit her sexual assault, and then the re-victimization that took place after the Rolling Stone article came out, will inevitably lead to a worsening of her symptoms and current mental health,” the attorneys wrote.
Eramo’s attorneys argued that Jackie is a “serial liar” who fabricated the assault.
“There is no evidence whatsoever that the story that Jackie told her friends, or the very different story she told Rolling Stone, actually transpired,” Eramo’s attorneys wrote. “Instead, it appears that Jackie fabricated her perpetrator and the details of the alleged assault.”
Hijinx
Well-Known Member
Not familiar with a lot of law doings, but how can someone be frightened of making a deposition, if they are not frightened that the trial will bring back these same memories.
How can she be re-traumatized and have bad memories of an incident that never took place?
On another note, is Rolling Stone still publishing? I'd think they'd have folded and slunk off by now.
On another note, is Rolling Stone still publishing? I'd think they'd have folded and slunk off by now.
that was my thought ...... and RS is still in business because progressives love them