Nate Parker, who has been receiving lots of media attention for his upcoming film The Birth of a Nation, is now having to deal with a significant and serious skeleton that has jumped out of his closet.
Parker, 36, and a former roommate were accused of raping an 18-year-old student when he was in college at Penn State University in 1999. Parker was eventually acquitted of the charge, admitting that he had sex with the accuser but that it was consensual. His accuser maintained that she was unconscious during the ordeal and that it was not consensual, but only Parker’s roommate ended up being found guilty.
“Seventeen years ago, I experienced a very painful moment in my life,” he previously told Variety. “It resulted in it being litigated. I was cleared of it. That’s that. Seventeen years later, I’m a filmmaker. I have a family. I have five beautiful daughters. I have a lovely wife. I get it. The reality is” — he took a long silence — “I can’t relive 17 years ago. All I can do is be the best man I can be now.”
The Hollywood Reporter has now broken the news that Nate’s accuser committed suicide back in 2012 by swallowing over 200 sleeping pills and Nate has taken to Facebook to address the new tragic development. “These are my words. Written from my heart and not filtered through a third party gaze. Please read these separate from any platform I may have, but from me as a fellow human being,” he begins. He then goes on to say that the information about his accuser’s death was news to him as well.
“I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and I am filled with profound sorrow…I can’t tell you how hard it is to hear this news. I can’t help but think of all the implications this has for her family. I cannot- nor do I want to ignore the pain she endured during and following our trial. While I maintain my innocence that the encounter was unambiguously consensual, there are things more important than the law.”
You can read Parker’s full response to the news below:
Photo Credit: Aaron J. Thornton / PR Photos