Rolling Stone Reportedly Settles With UVA Fraternity In Rape Hoax Case

University of Virginia fraternity Phi Kappa Psi has announced that they have settled a defamation lawsuit with Rolling Stone magazine over a discredited 2014 story about a rape on campus.

The magazine will pay $1.65 million as retribution for the false story, according to CBS News.

The suit was filed after Rolling Stone published an article titled “A Rape on Campus,” which told a story of a student named “Jackie” who claimed she was raped by members of the fraternity. Her story would eventually fall apart and the article was later completely discredited.

The accuser had claimed that 7 fraternity pledges raped her while 2 fraternity brothers watched and egged her on. Jackie claimed to have reported the rape to a university dean who did nothing. The story of rape and the alleged handling by University officials made major headlines throughout the nation.

However, the author of the piece, Sabrina Erdely, neglected to verify any of the key details of the accuser’s story. She did not interview any of the men accused of the assault and many of the main witnesses “Jackie” mentioned in the story prior to publishing the article.

In a statement delivered on Tuesday, the fraternity said, “The chapter looks forward to donating a significant portion of its settlement proceeds to organizations that provide sexual assault awareness education, prevention training and victim counseling services on college campuses”.

[image via screengrab]

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