RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A University of Virginia associate dean is seeking more than $7.5 million from Rolling Stone magazine in a defamation lawsuit stemming from a debunked account of an alleged gang rape on campus.
The suit was filed Tuesday by Nicole Eramo, who is the top administrator dealing with sexual assaults at the Charlottesville school.
In a news release, Eramo said she was filing the lawsuit to “set the record straight” and to hold the magazine and writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely accountable.
A report published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism said the magazine failed at virtually every step in the reporting and editing of the story.
The suit was filed in Charlottesville Circuit Court. It also names Wenner Media for false and defamatory statements.
Rolling Stone did not immediately respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.
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Since RS already retracted the story, apologized, and published an in-depth, highly detailed, highly self-critical analysis of what went wrong, it’s kind of hard to see what the point of this suit is supposed to be. My guess would be that some tort lawyer convinced her to go for it, like buying a lottery ticket. Nothing to lose, and who knows, you just might win something. Ka-ching!