Conor Oberst Accepts Accuser’s Apology

This past Monday, news broke that the woman who had accused Bright Eyes frontman, Conor Oberst of sexual assault this past December (Joanie Faircloth), had lied about the whole incident.

Today, Oberst has released his own statement in which he accepts her apology for accusing him of such a horrific crime.

“I have accepted Joanie Faircloth’s apology and retraction to clear my name. This has been extremely difficult and stressful for me personally and for those I love. 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 out lives.”

After almost eight months of having the world believe she had been sexual assaulted by Oberst, Faircloth came clean earlier this week with a statement in which she revealed that she had never even met Oberst and that she had made the whole thing up just to get attention and that it happen at a time when she was “trying to cope” with her son’s illness.

No word yet on whether Oberst will go through with his libel lawsuit against Faircloth or if he will drop the case now that his name has been somewhat vindicated with her reveal.

Conor Oberst Sexual Assault Accusation All a Lie

Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst has now been vindicated, thanks to the one who wrongfully accused him of rape.

Back in December, a woman named Joanie Faircloth had accused the singer of sexually assaulting her while they were in a “relationship” ten years or so ago.

She accused him of doing so on XOJane, a blog site and said that the reason she did not speak out about the injustice back when it happened was because he was a beloved member of their city and no one would believe her claims about him,

Now, Faircloth is asking for forgiveness almost eight months after the accusations were made against Oberst (and after he filed a libel lawsuit against her).

“The statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Oberst of raping me are a 100 percent false,” she wrote.

“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. I publicly retract my statement 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 sexual assault victims and for that, I apologize. I’m truly sorry for all the pain I caused.”

This comes on the heels of rumors that Oberst had been dropped by his record label after his new album, Upside Down Mountain had failed to garner much in the sales department. The blame had of course had been put on the negative publicity that had come a few months before the record was due to come out. It all ended up being rumors, but the fact of the matter is that maybe the sexual assault claims did contribute to the lack of sales.

Stream Conor Oberst’s “Fast Friends”

Though Record Store Day was three days ago, it doesn’t mean that all the special songs and records that were purchased won’t be making their way onto the internet.

Previously we have had the chance to listen to fun.’s debut demo, Point and Light, Jack White gave us two versions of his new track “Lazaretto,” Green Day releases Demolicious and Paramore released a B-side in honor of the music lover’s favorite holiday. We can now add a B-side track titled “Fast Friends” from Conor Oberst to that list.

This new B-side is the first piece of news that we have gotten from the Bright Eyes frontman since those accusations against him were made earlier this year. Another bright side for the singer, his new album Upside Down Mountain will be available on May 21 through Nonesuch Records.

Until then, you can stream Oberst’s “Fast Friends” below until his new record is officially on shelves in a month’s time.

Domestic Violence Advocacy Groups Asks Conor Oberst to Drop Libel Suit

Just when you thought that the “Conor Oberst Rape Chronicles” had come to an end when the singer filed a libel suit against the accuser Joanie Faircloth, a national domestic violence advocacy group is asking him to drop the suit because they claim it will stop other sexual assault victims from coming forward.

The group, Right to Speak Out tried to contact the Bright Eyes frontman to ask him to drop the legal suit even though he had announced that all the proceeds from the suit would be donated to several nonprofits supporting victims of violence against women. They claim that no matter what, the lawsuit will still damaged “the  culture of silence around sexual assault.”

“It is offensive to imply that filing such a lawsuit is a respectable way to procure money regardless of what he declares he intends to do with it,” the group said in a statement. “Even if Ms. Faircloth was not truthful, vilifying discussion of sexual assault by filing such a lawsuit only adds to the problem of under-reporting that enables sexual assault to proliferate at alarming rates.” Only 21 percent of rapes are reported, according to the nonprofit’s statistic, with only seven percent of those ending in convictions.

Right to Speak Out in its statement twice said Oberst “raped” Faircloth, which, again, he has denied. Emily Davis, a spokesperson for the group, explained in a telephone interview: “Typically there is this idea of innocence until proven guilty, and in this case the lawsuit has actually been filed against Ms. Faircloth. Using that standard presumption we would presume that she is innocent of libel and that these were true statements, that was talking about those experiences from a point of truth, until proven otherwise.”

Neither Faircloth nor Oberst have commented on the matter since the lawsuit was filed last week. Coincidentally enough, Oberst first solo album in six years, Upside Down Mountain is due out on May 20.

Conor Oberst Files Libel Lawsuit in Rape Defamation Case

It has now been over a month since we have heard anything about the alleged rape case involving Bright Eyes’ frontman, Conor Oberst. The last piece of information that had been given, came through Oberst’s publicist who said the claims were false and that a libel suit would be on the horizon and today, it seems that Oberst had already spoken to a libel attorney and is now filing a lawsuit.

Last night, Oberst’s camp set the story straight after the lawsuit made headlines. The full post on the singer’s behalf can be read here.

“February 19, 2014

Today Conor Oberst filed a libel lawsuit in a New York federal court against Joanie Faircloth, a resident of North Carolina, who falsely accused him of rape in the comments section of the xoJane website in December of 2013 and again, some days later, on her Tumblr page. The suit counters Faircloth’s baseless allegations and states that Oberst never had any physical contact with her, either at the concert in Durham, NC at which she claims the attack took place, or at any other time. The only connection between Oberst and Faircloth was one of artist and fan – a fan who has posted laudatory comments about Oberst elsewhere online, including describing attending his band’s concert as the “Best memory ever!” 

The lawsuit filed today outlines Faircloth’s history of inventing stories and personalities online in order to gain attention. Although her false statements about Oberst have since been deleted from the locations where they were initially posted online, Oberst’s suit alleges that her malicious lies spread across the Internet and are archived by multiple blogs. Through his attorneys, Oberst requested that Faircloth recant her false accusations, but she ignored the requests. Oberst has thus been forced to proceed with this libel suit in order to set the record straight and to clear his name. 

Oberst is seeking to promote the truth and repair the distress this has brought upon him and his family. Oberst intends to donate the proceeds of this suit to charities benefiting the victims of violence against women.”

Coincidentally, Oberst’s new album, his first in six years, is set to be released on May 20. Curiouser, and curiouser indeed.

He Said//She Said: The Conor Oberst Rape Chronicles Begin

Mid-day yesterday, news had broken that Bright Eye frontman, Conor Obrest was being accused of raping a woman ten years ago. The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, had decided that it was time to speak out about what transpired the night that Oberst allegedly raped her.

The accusation all stems from an articles that written on XO Jane back in mid-December which resulted in many of the comments beginning to circulate on Tumblr and like with all things associated with Tumblr, it blew up. Now, the anonymous victim has started her own blog which she recounts in detail what happened.

Some of her post directly from her blog can be read below while the full post can be read here:

“Look, I didn’t intend for any of this to happen. I was a somewhat regular commenter on xojane and felt safe there. Call it dumb, naive, etc but when I hit that post button, I did not think my comment would be anything more than an exchange with one or two other commenters sharing their stories. Was I stupid to think that making an accusation about Conor like this was just going to remain some blip in the comment section of a feminist website? Obviously. But I didn’t realize that Conor was still *that* popular, to be honest. I guess I felt too safe in that community. I had no intention for this to be all over the place, I really did not.”

Oberst has now spoken out about the accusation. The singer has released a statement through his publicist responding to it. The statement says that the accusation is “absolutely, unequivocally false” and that he would be consulting with a libel attorney about the claims.

His full statement can be read below:

“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.”