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Rolling Stone Found Not Liable For Defamation In UVA Rape Story

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - DECEMBER 6: The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house is seen on the University of Virginia campus on December 6, 2014 in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Friday, Rolling Stone magazine issued an apology for discrepencies that were published in an article regarding the alleged gang rape of a University of Virginia student by members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. (Photo by Jay Paul/Getty Images)

Photo by Jay Paul/Getty Images

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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Rolling Stone magazine has been found not liable for defamation in the debunked University of Virginia gang rape story.

On Tuesday, a New York judge threw out the lawsuit against the magazine, its publisher Wenner media and a journalist by three graduate members of the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi who were falsely accused of raping a woman named “Jackie,” according to Reuters. (RELATED: UVA Jackie May Have Just Been Caught In Another Big Lie)

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity stands next to the University of Virginia (UVA) campus in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. This year's rushÊweek at UVA, the prolonged annual rite in which fraternities and sororitiesÊrecruit new members, carries fresh significance. Depending on who you talk to, the student rituals embody either anÊunchecked culture of sexual violence or a communityÊvictimized by stigma and false accusations. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty

(photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty)

Federal Judge Kevin Castel said the November 19, 2014  UVA gang rape article, called “Rape on Campus” by Sabrina Erdely, that detailed the gang rape of a girl named “Jackie” by seven Phi Kappa Psi members, was “too vague” and “remote” to prove that the three graduates were the ones in the article. (RELATED: Here Is The $25 Million Lawsuit Against Rolling Stone Over Its UVA Rape Hoax Story)

“In the plaintiffs’ own words, ‘any apparent connection between the plaintiffs and the allegations is an (unfortunate) coincidence,'” Castel said.

“Their defamation claims are directed toward a report about events that simply did not happen,” another article noted.

The 2014 Rolling Stone article created an out cry across the country about sexual assault on college campuses.

The magazine later pulled the story and apologized for “discrepancies” following the investigation by the Charlottesville police that found no evidence of a rape.