Nate Parker has responded to the suicide of the woman who accused him of rape in 1999.
The actor, writer and director of slavery drama The Birth of a Nation was accused of raping a female student with his Penn State roommate, Jean McGianni Celestin.
Parker was acquitted, claiming the encounter to be consensual, but Celestin, who shares a writing credit with Parker on the forthcoming film, was convicted and served a short sentence. His charge was overturned after an appeal. News has now surfaced that the woman at the centre of the case killed herself in 2012.
“I write to you all devastated,” Parker posted on his Facebook page . “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 ... As a 36-year-old father of daughters and person of faith, I look back on that time as a teenager and can say without hesitation that I should have used more wisdom.”
“I look back on that time, my indignant attitude and my heartfelt mission to prove my innocence with eyes that are more wise with time,” Parker continued in his post. “I see now that I may not have shown enough empathy even as I fought to clear my name. Empathy for the young woman and empathy for the seriousness of the situation I put myself and others in.”
Last week, Parker had addressed the issue in an interview with Variety, in which he voiced his hope to move on from the case. “I was cleared of it. That’s that,” he said. “Seventeen years later, I’m a filmmaker. I have a family. I have five beautiful daughters. I have a lovely wife.”
Parker and Celestin had also been accused of intimidating the victim after she pressed charges, and she testified that she had attempted suicide in the period after the incident. Her brother later said she was “afraid for her life”. “We appreciate that after all this time, these men are being held accountable for their actions,” her family said in a statement . “However, we are dubious of the underlying motivations that bring this to present light after 17 years, and we will not take part in stoking its coals. While we cannot protect the victim from this media storm, we can do our best to protect her son. For that reason, we ask for privacy for our family and do not wish to comment further.”
Parker, also known for roles in Non-Stop and Beyond the Lights, had been seen as a major Oscar contender for The Birth of a Nation, which was sold to Fox Searchlight for a record-breaking $17.5 million (Dh64 million) earlier this year at Sundance.
Last week, the company released the following statement: “Fox Searchlight is aware of the incident that occurred while Nate Parker was at Penn State. We also know that he was found innocent and cleared of all charges. We stand behind Nate and are proud to help bring this important and powerful story to the screen.”
