University of Virginia dean sues Rolling Stone over retracted rape story


An associate dean at the University of Virginia on Tuesday sued Rolling Stone, claiming the magazine portrayed her as the "chief villain" in its since-retracted feature on an alleged rape at the institution.
Alleging defamation, Dean Nicole Eramo claimed the story was the result of reporting intended to justify "a preconceived narrative" and "a malicious publisher who was more concerned about selling magazines... than they were about discovering the truth or actual facts."
Published in November, the explosive article focused on an alleged gang rape victim identified as "Jackie." Subsequent reporting cast doubt on Jackie's story, though, and in April Rolling Stone retracted the piece after an exhaustive Columbia University review called it "deeply flawed."
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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
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