Conor Oberst has responded to allegations that he raped a young female a decade ago. The charges were made last month by an anonymous commenter responding to an article on XOJane.com. The commenter alleged that she was introduced to Oberst backstage at a concert 10 years ago. She said no one believed her story, not ever her own mother.
The allegations have picked up traction in recent days after being reposted on Tumblr. The anonymous commenter apparently started her own Tumblr to talk about rape, however, it’s since been deleted. Still, there has already been fallout: One Week // One Band decided to scrap its upcoming editorial series on Bright Eyes in light of the allegations.
Through his publicist, Oberst offered this statement via AbsolutePunk:
“Usually we wouldn’t feel the urge to comment on spurious blog chatter but the recent allegations made about Conor Oberst by an anonymous commenter on the xoJane website are flagrant enough to demand our response. This individual’s accusations are absolutely, unequivocally false. Unfortunately, the internet allows for groundless statements like this to travel the world before the truth has any time to surface. This is a particularly serious and sickening allegation and there is no truth to it. Conor has nothing but abhorrence for the perpetrators of such crimes of sexual violence. The behavior attributed to him by this individual is in direct opposition to his principles. Conor is consulting with a libel attorney regarding this matter.”
