Nate Parker‘s name elevated to household status when he secured an unprecedented deal with Fox Searchlight for $17.6 million for his slave biopic, Birth of a Nation.
With new-found mainstream fame and anticipation over his Nat Turner film, his 1999 rape case — of which he was cleared of all charges for — was dug out of the closet by major media outlets.
The actor sat down with Variety and described the experience as “painful,” but something he had moved on from:
“Seventeen years ago, I experienced a very painful moment in my life,” Parker 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, I can’t relive 17 years ago. All I can do is be the best man I can be now.”
But with those words came a slew of questions, with reporters digging further into the story.
Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that his accuser was dead — the woman, whose name has not been released, committed suicide back in 2012 by swallowing over 200 sleeping pills.
This new detail was shocking not only to the world, but to Nate Parker, who went on Facebook to address the controversy.
He reiterates that he is a family man and a man of faith many times, and also expresses regret over how he treated his accuser as a college student:
Time will tell if this skeleton haunts the entire reception of the film and Nate’s reputation as a actor, producer, and leader going forward.
SOURCE: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Facebook | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
Nate Parker Releases Statement After Details Of His Rape Accuser’s Death Surface was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
