Joanie Faircloth has been identified as the woman who accused Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst of rape.
Faircloth made the accusations in postings online on the website xojane.com.
“Conor took a lot from me including my virginity, my dignity, and self-esteem,” she wrote.
Oberst responded this week by filing a lawsuit claiming he was libeled by the accusations.
An attorney for Oberst filed the civil lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court. The suit claims the woman behind the accusations was a liar who made “despicable, false, outrageous, and defamatory statements” about Oberst last December.
(Facebook)
Faircloth says that Oberst sexually assaulted her a decade ago in North Carolina after his brother, her middle school English teacher, introduced the two at an Oberst show. The lawsuit says she also claimed she was 16 at the time.
Oberst, an Omaha, Neb., resident best known for his work with Bright Eyes, is seeking monetary damages, attorney fees and other costs.
(AP Photo/Joe Giblin, file)
He says the media coverage that resulted from the three posts in the comments section of a blog has damaged his career, especially in New York where most of the major music publishing houses are headquartered. He says he was in the company of his brother, bandmates or then-girlfriend at the time of the claims. The suit also says the woman made positive social media comments about Oberst in the past decade, such as listing Bright Eyes as her favorite band on Facebook.
Faircloth also posted on January 20 of this year that Oberst pulled her up on stage and sang happy birthday when she turned 16.
According to the lawsuit, the woman said in the posts that she never reported the assault because of the way her own family and friends reacted to the accusations. She says she posted his name a decade later to help others and at the suggestion of her husband.
