Listen Live
102.5 The Block App Promo graphics
92.7 The Block Featured Video
CLOSE

Ebony Magazine And Apple Celebrate Black Hollywood

Nate Parker made history with his directorial debut feature film The Birth of a Nation at the Sundance Film Festival this year, but his success has put other incidents in his life under high media scrutiny.

Back in 1999, Parker and his roommate Jean McGianni Celestin were accused of raping a female student. Parker, a sophomore at Penn State at the time, claimed it was consensual and was acquitted, though Celestin served a short jail sentence. New reports claim that the victim committed suicide in the spring of 2012, and though Parker previously wanted to move on from discussing the alleged rape, it seems he’s changed his tune in a new statement that he hopes will show more empathy toward the tragedy.

Parker, via a Facebook post, maintains his innocence but then admits he should’ve used more wisdom as a 19-year-old in that situation. “…no one who calls himself a man of faith should even be in that situation,” he writes on Facebook. “As a 36-year-old father of daughters and person of faith, I look back on that time as a teenager and can say without hesitation that I should have used more wisdom.”

Birth of a Nation is set to hit theaters on October 7 of this year. His roommate Celestin, who served jail time for the crime, co-wrote the film. Thoughts?

SOURCE: Facebook | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Nate Parker Addresses Rape Accuser’s Suicide In Facebook Statement  was originally published on globalgrind.com