UVA students dispute Rolling Stone's account of Jackie's assault


Friends of Jackie, the University of Virginia assault victim at the center of Rolling Stone's November campus rape story, disputed the magazine's account of the story in interviews with The Washington Post.
Randall, Andy, and Cindy — pseudonyms for the friends who spoke with Jackie on the night she said she was gang-raped at a fraternity — all said they were not contacted by Rolling Stone reporters or editors.
In reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely's now-questioned account, which the magazine has since apologized for, Jackie's friends seemed apathetic toward the assault, worrying more about their social status than Jackie's well-being. The friends tell The Post that they encouraged her to speak to the police, but when she declined, two of them spent the night with her in her dorm room.
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The friends also said the name Jackie gave as the man who set up the rape did not match anyone enrolled at the university. Though they disagree with details of Rolling Stone's account, they remain certain Jackie was assaulted.
"She had very clearly just experienced a horrific trauma," Randall told The Post. "I had never seen anybody acting like she was on that night before and I really hope I never have to again.... If she was acting on the night of Sept. 28, 2012, then she deserves an Oscar."
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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