The Washington Post on Wednesday published new details that cast additional doubts on Rolling Stone magazine’s graphic portrayal of an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity house.
The newspaper interviewed three UVa students—identified in Rolling Stone’s article as friends of Jackie, the alleged victim—who expressed skepticism about the accuser’s account of the incident. The Post’s article said the three students had spoken out about “mounting inconsistencies with the original narrative in the magazine.”
UVa officials confirmed to the Post that no one by the name Jackie provided as that of her date on the night of the alleged incident had ever attended the university.
The magazine’s account of the allegations, published last month, rocked the university and became a rallying cry in the movement to curb sexual assault on college campuses. Afterward, UVa suspended its fraternities until early January, and campus leaders have vowed to improve their handling of sexual-assault cases.
This month, however, the story began to unravel, and the magazine’s editors apologized for discrepancies in its account. Advocates for sexual-assault victims and others have raised concerns that the magazine’s backpedaling could stunt recent efforts to improve how colleges respond to sexual violence.
Teresa A. Sullivan, the university’s president, told the newspaper that UVa officials would continue to cooperate with a police investigation into the case. She also said she wanted UVa to remain focused on sexual-assault prevention.
A lawyer representing Jackie told the newspaper that the episode had been “very stressful, overwhelming, and retraumatizing for Jackie and her family,” but did not elaborate.
