Now, that's no longer the case. The fact that Jackie had a romantic interest in Randall was also noted by other news media. Former student faces six years in prison for falsely reporting rape Virginia sorority members called the restrictions "unnecessary and patronizing". [17] [71], The Washington Post journalist Erik Wemple criticized the story's graphic details of the alleged crime and said that it was hard to believe due to the "diabolical" description. Jackie Coakley ("Jackie . In New York federal court, Rolling Stone wrapped up the last remaining piece of litigation emanating from its retracted 2014 article about a rape [of proven liar Jackie Coakley] at a University of Virginia campus fraternity. [170] The lawsuit was settled on December 21, 2017. [147][148][149] Harvey A. Silverglate in The Boston Globe referenced the Rolling Stone article in opining that the college sexual assault "scare" follows a long tradition of runaway, exaggerated social epidemics that "have ruined innocent lives and corrupted justice. Emails filed in federal court on Friday show that the Rolling Stone reporter who wrote a now-debunked article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia told colleagues that "our worst nightmare" became a reality after she realized the main source for the story was lying. [40] Milton Berle, Jackie Mason, Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld got a start up here, Woody Allen, the list goes on. ", "Why Did Rolling Stone Writer Choose UVA, Not Vanderbilt, for Gang Rape Expos? Ultimately, Rolling Stone got sued, paid out a big settlement to get out from under their own stupidity, and took a big black eye as far as journalistic competence. That's terrible for journalism", "Should there have been firings at Rolling Stone? The Post did report, however, that Jackie appeared distraught after the rape allegedly took place. He wrote:[87]. In May 2014, with Drew about to graduate, she still didn't feel ready to file a complaint . The media should publish the name of the UVA rape hoax girl, Jackie Coakley. The original story was told by a young woman named Jackie Coakley identified only as "Jackie" in the article who said she was taken on a date by a handsome member of the Phi Kappa Psi. [161] On November 4, 2016, after 20 hours of deliberation,[162] a jury consisting of eight women and two men found Rolling Stone, the magazine's publisher and Erdely liable for defaming Eramo. Sponsorship and interview inquiries cheerfully welcomed at bsutton@alum.mit.edu. Eramo was awarded $3 million by a jury who concluded that Rolling Stone defamed her with actual malice,[11] and Rolling Stone settled the lawsuit with the fraternity for $1.65 million. [28], The Interfraternity Council (IFC) at UVA released a statement on its website in response to the article that said: "an IFC officer was interviewed by Rolling Stone regarding the culture of sexual violence at the University. Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo explained, "We would've loved to have had Jackie come in and tell us what happened so we can obtain justice even if the facts were different. The Washington Times determined "Drew"'s "telephone" and "Blackberry" numbers were in fact "Internet phone numbers that enable the user to make calls or send SMS text messages to telephones from a computer or iPad while creating the appearance that they are coming from a real phone". Jackie's friends Cindy, Andy, and Randall had become suspicious as to whether Jackie's date to the fraternity party where she was allegedly raped was a real person. [38], Bruce Shapiro of Columbia University said that an engaged and empathetic reporter will be concerned about inflicting new trauma on the victim: "I do think that when the emotional valence of a story is this high, you really have to verify it." Well, she is married and is now "Jackie McGovern", living her life, la-la-la, scot-free. The published story glossed over the gaps in the magazine's reporting by using pseudonyms and by failing to state where important information had come from. She said her initial reaction was surprise and "a certain air of disbelief" because during her 44-minute interview for the story, Erdely never brought up Jackie or asked about any of the allegations made in the article. [57] A subsequent tweet sent by Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana offered further comment on Erdely's story: "[W]e made a judgementthe kind of judgement reporters and editors make every day. "[121], Rolling Stone announced that Will Dana would leave his job at the magazine, effective August 7, 2015. One student protester told The Cavalier Daily: "I really hope the University takes this article and the protest movement as a sign that they need to be more transparent about the way they deal with sexual assault. "[94][106][107] "[79], On December 6, The Washington Post's media critic Erik Wemple called for all Rolling Stone staff who were involved with the story to be fired. So where is good old Jackie Coakley these days? On November 19, 2014, Rolling Stone published the now retracted article by Sabrina Erdely titled "A Rape on Campus" about an alleged gang rape of a University of Virginia (UVA) student, Jackie Coakley. [109][110], After the details in "A Rape on Campus" began to unravel, Rolling Stone's publisher Jann Wenner commissioned Columbia University's School of Journalism to investigate the failures behind the publication of the article. [131], One month after the publication of the Rolling Stone article, the Rector of the University of Virginia, George Keith Martin, accused the magazine of "drive-by journalism" when he stated, "Like a neighborhood thrown into chaos by drive-by violence, our tightly knit community has experienced the full fury of drive-by journalism in the 21st century. A woman named Jackie Coakley (now McGovern), who was a student at UVa at the time, had an issue with a boy who was not paying her enough attention, or didn't see her as a romantic interest, or something like that. And in this case, our judgement was wrong. After the date, they allegedly went to a party at his fraternity house, where he brought her to a dark bedroom upstairs and "a heavy person jumps on top of her. It features a fictional character named Heather Manning who was based on Jackie. rape accuser's friends begin to doubt story Washington Times", "Friends' accounts differ significantly from victim in UVA rape story", "Lawyers in Rolling Stone lawsuit acknowledge 'Jackie' has ties to fake persona", "Police find no evidence of alleged sexual assault at U-Va. fraternity, "These Surreal "Catfishing" Texts May Have Prompted The UVA Rape Scandal", "Rolling Stone Article on Rape at University of Virginia Failed All Basics, Report Says", "Rolling Stone Deputy Editor Tendered Resignation; Wenner Declines", "Rolling Stone Tries to Regroup After Campus Rape Article Is Disputed", "Jury finds reporter, Rolling Stone responsible for defaming U-Va. dean with gang rape story", "Statement from Writer of Rolling Stone Article Sabrina Erdely", "Rolling Stone Retracts UVA Fraternity Rape Story, Pundits React US News", "Rolling Stone fails to take full responsibility for its actions", "Major 'failures' found in Rolling Stone's 'A Rape on Campus', "Probe of Now-Discredited Rolling Stone Article Didn't Find Fireable Error", "Rolling Stone magazine "Jackie" recording released", "Hey, Feminist Internet Collective: Good Reporting Does Not Have To Be Sensitive", "Rush After 'A Rape On Campus': A UVA Alum Goes Back to Rugby Road", "Why Didn't Sabrina Rubin Erdely Write about Vanderbilt? [139], National sorority leaders ordered UVA sororities to not interact with fraternities during Boys Bid Night when fraternities admit new pledges. [113] The Columbia Journalism Review called the story "this year's media-fail sweepstakes". . [99], In Erdely's story, Jackie is lured into an alleged seven-man rape by U. Va. upperclassman "Drew". ", Also within the first day following publication, Phi Kappa Psi's fraternity house at UVA was vandalized with spray-painted graffiti that read "suspend us", "UVA Center for Rape Studies", and "Stop raping people". [18][40][41] Sandra Menendez, a student who claimed to have been interviewed by Erdely but who was not directly quoted in the article, told CNN that she and others became uncomfortable after speaking with Erdely, concluding she had "an agenda". [113][116] Ultimately, the report determined that Rolling Stone had exhibited confirmation bias and failed to perform basic fact checking by relying excessively on the accuser's account without verifying it through other means. ", "University urged to end Greek groups' suspension", "UVA Issues Statement Regarding Fraternal Suspension", "Police clear U-Va. fraternity, say rape did not happen there", "The Washington Post Inches Closer to Calling the UVA Gang Rape Story a Fabrication", "Report: Rolling Stone rape article 'journalistic failure', "Updated: Jurors Hear From 'Jackie's' Friends in Rolling Stone Trial", "New Questions Raised About Rolling Stone's UVA Rape Story", "What Happened to Jackie? Haven claims he doesn't know. The three friends disclosed to ABC News their actual names Alex Stock's pseudonym was "Andy", Kathryn Hendley's was "Cindy", Ryan (Duffin) was "Randall"[100] and went on record that on the night of the alleged event Jackie told the two men that she was forced to fellate five men while a sixth stood by. [16], According to Los Angeles Times columnist Jonah Goldberg's summary of the story, on September 28, 2012, Jackie, a freshman at UVA, had a date with a Phi Kappa Psi member "Drew", a junior at UVA. Well, she is married and is now "Jackie McGovern", living her life, la-la-la, scot-free despite being the central figure in a mammoth fraud that has cost people their jobs, institutions their reputations, and a magazine a spitload of money. The main entrance is in the middle of the building's west side. [95], On December 10, 2014, The Washington Post published an updated account of its inquiry into the Rolling Stone article. Prior to the alleged event, Jackie provided evidence of her relationship with "Drew" to her friends by supplying a phone number for "Drew", with whom Jackie's friends subsequently exchanged messages. [46] The bride is the daughter of the late Norman and Elsie Miles Armstrong of Pickens and stepmother, the late Nell Bennett Armstrong. [24] Later media analysis of photos Jackie showed her friends of her date demonstrated that they were pictures taken from the public social media profile of a former high-school classmate of Jackie, who was not a student of the University of Virginia, did not live in the Charlottesville area, and was out of state at an athletic competition the day of the alleged attack. Rolling Stone Trial: UVA Jackie Invented Rumor Her Friend Had Syphilis Search Results Jackie Coakley [157], On May 12, 2015, UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo, chief administrator for handling sexual assault issues at the school, filed a $7.5 million defamation lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court against Rolling Stone and Erdely, claiming damage to her reputation and emotional distress. But I have a pretty good notion that she violated some serious criminal statutes; after all, participating in a fraud involving the mails (a magazine) or wire (somewhere along the line) is a Federal issue. Fraternity Files $25 Million Lawsuit Against Rolling Stone", "Lawsuits Against Rolling Stone Move Forward Despite Objection", Fraternity chapter at U-Va. to settle suit against Rolling Stone for $1.65 million, "Lawsuit over debunked Rolling Stone rape article revived on appeal", "Street Artist Sabo Blasts Lena Dunham, Bill Clinton in Fake Rolling Stone Covers", "RETRACTION by David Gutierrez Opens On Theatre Row", "A lawyer takes to the stage to state his case", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Rape_on_Campus&oldid=1152555607, An alleged gang rape at a college fraternity, This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 23:20. [17][20], Within hours of the article's publication, UVA president Teresa Sullivan had called the governor's chief of staff and the Charlottesville police chief to start preparing a response. In Erdely's story, Jackie tells her three friends the night of the alleged event that she was raped by seven men over a three-hour period while rolling on a mat of broken glass. Subscribe please (its cheap!) [96][97] Emily Renda, who was a University of Virginia student at the time of the alleged attack and in whom Jackie also confided, said that she had become suspicious as to the veracity of Jackie's story prior to the Rolling Stone report, commenting to a The Washington Post editor: "I don't even know what I believe. More details have emerged about the life of Jackie Coakley, the young woman who had a fake story published in Rolling Stone about a rape that she claimed happened to her at the University of Virginia. After other journalists investigated the article's claims and found significant discrepancies, Rolling Stone issued multiple apologies for the story. "[62], Rolling Stone's lawyer told jurors in a 2016 trial that Rolling Stone was victim of a "hoax" and a "fraud", and added with regard to Jackie: "the magazine's editorial staff was no match for Jackie 'she deceived us, and we do know it was purposeful'. The poster featured an image of Lena Dunham, whose own allegations of rape had recently come under scrutiny, and included a sidebar reference to "A Rape on Campus" that read "Our UVA Rape Apology: Ooops, we did it AGAIN!!! However, that statement seemed to contradict an earlier assertion the accuser had made to The Washington Post, in which she stated: "I know it was Phi [Kappa] Psi, because a year afterward, my friend pointed out the building to me. Teresa Sullivan, the president of UVa, promptly shut down all the fraternities and, bizarrely, the sororities as well (don't ask), in a "ready, fire, aim" response, without allowing even the Phi Psis the due process to point out all the inaccuracies that made the article suspect. "[43] Jackie forwarded messages from "Monahan", and "Monahan" exchanged messages with Jackie's friends, including sending a picture of "himself" directly to Ryan Duffin. Father of girl at center of UVA 'gang rape' storm defends her saying A Rape Hoax for Book Lovers - Taki's Magazine President: School to Be National Leader on Campus Safety", "UVA Applications Drop in Wake of Discredited Gang-Rape Story Bloomberg Business", "Party Ban Is Patronizing, U.Va. You all know where she is. Gary Pleasants, Phi Kappa Psi has been cleared; "We found no basis to believe that an incident occurred at that fraternity, so there's no reason to keep them suspended. After leaving the party around 3 a.m., allegedly with bruises and blood stained clothes, Jackie called her three best friends, "Andy", "Randall" and "Cindy", for support. Police later. "[85][86] Robby Soave in Reason's Hit & Run Blog answered Bradley's query about why Erdely chose UVA over Vanderbilt. A stone-cold sober coed named Jackie is lured by her date " Drew" to an upstairs room at the fraternity house. Her friends, however, told ABC News that she seemed fine after the alleged assault,[100] contradicting Jackie's former roommate, Rachel Soltis, who claimed that Jackie "was depressed, withdrawn, and couldn't wake up in the mornings" following the alleged rape. Still Waiting for "Jackie's" Prosecution - by Robert Sutton "[88], Emily Renda, the university's project coordinator for sexual misconduct, policy and prevention declared that "Rolling Stone played adjudicator, investigator and advocate and did a slipshod job at that. Are you. [160] However, on April 2, 2016, the judge denied the motions and ordered Jackie to appear for a deposition on April 6, to be held at a secret location. "[35], Fraternity officials, who rejected the published allegations, noted a number of discrepancies in the story: there was no party held on the night that Jackie was allegedly raped, no fraternity member matched the description in the story of the "ringleader" of the rape, and details about the layout of the fraternity house provided by the accuser were wrong. [78], Fellow Jezebel writer Jia Tolentino wrote an analysis of Erdely's story and reported on fraternity rush after the Rolling Stone article was discredited. . It was later revealed Erdely had not interviewed any of the men accused of the rape. [25], UVA's student newspaper The Cavalier Daily described mixed reactions from the student body, stating: "For some, the piece is an unfounded attack on our school; for others, it is a recognition of a harsh reality; and for what I suspect is a large majority of us, it falls somewhere in between. [18] and that there was no party at all at the Phi Psi house on the night Miss Coakley claimed to have been assaulted at, she claimed, a party. [76] Anna Merlan, a writer for Jezebel, who had earlier called Reason columnist Robby Soave an "idiot" for expressing skepticism of the Rolling Stone story, declared: "I was dead fucking wrong, and for that I sincerely apologize. However, The Washington Post stated that the three friends reported getting called at 1 a.m.[46] and meeting Jackie a mile away from the fraternities, and that they saw "no blood or visible injuries". Update on the JACKIE COAKLEY - SAVE for Falsely Accused - Facebook The Columbia Journalism Review called the story "this year's media-fail sweepstakes" and the Poynter Institute named it as the "Error of the Year" in journalism. Someone gets between her legs. He also explained that experienced reporters often work only with women who feel strong enough to deal with the due diligence required to bring the article to publication. [34] The Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple rejected Erdely's statement, saying that the severity of the accusations she was reporting required "every possible step to reach out and interview them, including e-mails, phone calls, certified letters, FedEx letters, UPS letters and, if all of that fails, a knock on the door. "[56] But on December 5, 2014, Rolling Stone published an online apology, stating that there appeared to be "discrepancies" in the accounts of Erdely's sources and that their trust in the accuser was misplaced. Sponsorship and interview inquiries cheerfully welcomed at bsutton@alum.mit.edu. ", to become a weapon of revenge.Where, we ask, are the Federal cops? [6][7] In a deposition given in 2016, Jackie stated that she believed her story at the time. Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband until that story unwound. I have argued in these pages that the FBI needs to go hard against the Clinton Foundation for just that reason, lest the next powerful person or couple use a phony-baloney charitable entity to disguise an influence-peddling scam. "Under the scenario cited by Erdely", Wemple wrote, "the Phi Kappa Psi members are not just criminal sexual-assault offenders, they're criminal sexual-assault conspiracists, planners, long-range schemers. And no one, from a university president on down, or on up, gets the notion that due process for the accused is actually a core principle of our justice system, to be applied before punishment is meted out. Jackie's account generated much media attention, and UVA President Teresa Sullivan suspended all fraternities. Emails Show The Moment That Rolling Stone Reporter Realized The Source There is certainly a good argument to make that it is often necessary to prosecute as a deterrent to the next person willing to try the same felonious act. Jackie Coakley's Fake UVA Frat Rape Story Is The Most - Turtleboy [81], Journalist Caitlin Flanagan, who wrote an expos in The Atlantic titled "The Dark Power of Fraternities: A yearlong investigation of Greek houses", told On the Media that she was concerned that Erdely's article could inhibit reforms of the Greek system. Virginia Attorney-General Mark Herring said he found it "deeply troubling that Rolling Stone magazine is now publicly walking away from its central storyline in its bombshell report on the University of Virginia without correcting what errors its editors believe were made. [114][115], The fact-checker concluded that Ryan "Randall" under pseudonym had not been interviewed, but that the article had pretended he had been. Jackie Coakley can't hide her secrets any longer. "[18], In Erdely's story, Jackie disclosed to friends Cindy, Andy, and Randall the identity of her date to the fraternity party and said that he was the ringleader of the rape. Prior to the publication of the story, early-action applications were up 7.5 percent with 16,187 applicants. This isn't the first time Rolling Stone has published provably false stories. [61] In the aftermath of the collapse of the story, Dana noted: "Right now, we're picking up the pieces. 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