Conor Oberst Drops Libel Lawsuit Against Rape Accuser
UPDATE: Oberst’s publicist released the following statement to Buzzfeed: “Conor had his lawyer ask the judge to dismiss the complaint against Joanie Faircloth. Conor’s only goal throughout these court proceedings has been to expose the truth. As per his statement of last week: he looks forward to moving on to happier times.”
Conor Oberst has dropped his libel suit against Joanie Faircloth, who accused him of raping her and has since recanted her claims. On July 18th, the Bright Eyes frontman’s attorney filed a one-page document, viewable at Buzzfeed, in which they voluntarily dismissed his suit without prejudice.
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Faircloth first published her allegations in since-deleted comments on an XOJane story in December. “Conor definitely took advantage of my teenage crush on him,” she wrote at the time. In February, Oberst’s lawyers filed the libel lawsuit against Faircloth, calling on her to recant her claims. Oberst also issued a statement calling the charges “absolutely, unequivocally false” and “particularly serious and sickening.”
Earlier this month, Faircloth issued a notarized statement saying she made the whole story up. “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 wrote. “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.”
The day after Faircloth’s statement, Oberst released one of his own accepting her apology. “This has been extremely difficult and stressful for me personally and for those I love,” he wrote. “I’m appreciative of the family, friends, fans and business partners who supported me throughout this and look forward to happier times as we all move forward with our lives.”