DC Trawler

Rolling Stone Pays Up To UVA Administrator Implicated In Rape Hoax

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Hey, remember when Rolling Stone magazine published a big long exposé detailing a horrible gang-rape at the University of Virginia, and calling out UVA’s callous treatment of the victim? And remember how it turned out that the “victim,” Jackie Coakley, completely fabricated the whole thing, but the story was too good for Rolling Stone to check? At long last, one of the victims of the hoax has gotten some justice.

T. Rees Shapiro and Emma Brown, WaPo:

Rolling Stone has reached a confidential settlement with Nicole Eramo, a former University of Virginia associate dean who had sued the magazine alleging that it defamed her in a 2014 story about an alleged gang rape on campus, according to lawyers for both parties…

Rolling Stone called the settlement an “amicable resolution.”

Amicable. “Sorry we published a huge lie about a terrible crime that never happened, and falsely implicated you in it. Here’s a bunch of money.” That does indeed sound amicable.

A lot of people in a lot of newsrooms really wanted to believe this hoax, and they got very angry at anybody who questioned Coakley’s account of events. They believe rape is such a horrible crime that it doesn’t matter whether or not it actually happened. They just keep chanting “Listen and believe,” regardless of any evidence for or against the accusation. Regardless of whether the story they’re telling is even possible. (For example, Coakley claimed her “rape” took place during a party that never happened. Whoops!) Facts only get in the way of their anger. Sooner or later that comes at a price, and Rolling Stone just paid it.

I hope this is a good sign for my Phi Psi brothers at UVA, who are also suing. I hope they show Jann Wenner that the truth actually matters, even when the victims of a hoax are frat bros. Being a designated victim doesn’t give someone the right to make false accusations of rape.