UVA Frat Sues Rolling Stone for $25 Million Over Retracted Rape Story
The University of Virginia’s chapter of Phi Kappa Psi filed a $25 million lawsuit against Rolling Stone Monday, alleging that the magazine’s controversial 2014 story “A Rape on Campus” was published with “a reckless disregard for the truth.”
Rolling Stone retracted the story, by reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely, in May, after discrepancies were discovered in the account of Erdely’s primary source, a UVA student and alleged rape victim named Jackie. The magazine brought in the Columbia School of Journalism to analyze the process by which “A Rape on Campus” made it to publication, and the resulting report turned up a number of red flags.
After the story was released, Phi Kappa Psi’s UVA chapter was shut down for a semester by the school, was targeted by protestors, and had its house vandalized. It was later reinstated.
Rolling Stone also faces a lawsuit from UVA administrator Nicole Eramo, who claimed the magazine defamed her by unfairly making her “the chief villain” in its account of an alleged gang rape on campus and implying she discouraged sexual assault victims from coming forward.
[Photo: AP Images]