--- title: Conor Oberst's Rape Accuser Says She Made It Up "To Get Attention" description: "I’m truly sorry for all the pain that I caused,” writes his accuser canonical: https://time.com/2982902/conor-oberst-rape-accusations-false/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-14T19:49:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:08:23.559Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Conor Oberst's Rape Accuser Says She Made It Up "To Get Attention" og:description: "I’m truly sorry for all the pain that I caused,” writes his accuser og:url: https://time.com/2982902/conor-oberst-rape-accusations-false/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6f575f00664562/69869ba5cd6848c202095a6e/conor-oberst.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2014 Hangout Music Festival - Day 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Conor Oberst's Rape Accuser Says She Made It Up "To Get Attention" twitter:description: "I’m truly sorry for all the pain that I caused,” writes his accuser twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6f575f00664562/69869ba5cd6848c202095a6e/conor-oberst.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Conor Oberst's Rape Accuser Admits Making Story Up 'To Get Attention'  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 14, 2014 7:49 PM UTC  Conor Oberst performs during the 2014 Hangout Music Festival at Hangout Beach on May 16, 2014 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Conor Oberst performs during the 2014 Hangout Music Festival at Hangout Beach on May 16, 2014 in Gulf Shores, Alabama.Tim Mosenfelde—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 14, 2014 7:49 PM UTC A woman has [admitted to fabricating claims ](http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/woman-who-accused-conor-oberst-of-rape-i-made-up-those-lies?bftw=main)that musician Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes raped her as a teenager, according to a notarized statement that was dated and surfaced on Monday. Joan Elizabeth Harris, who originally identified herself as Joanie Faircloth, first made the accusation in the comments section of a [2013 xoJane article](http://www.xojane.com/it-happened-to-me/it-happened-to-me-i-dated-a-famous-rock-star-all-i-got-was-punched-in-the-face). But she now says she “made up those lies about him to get attention” while dealing with a sick child, in a document first published by _BuzzFeed_. Harris apologized for spreading the story “online and elsewhere over the past six months” and for “undermin\[ing\] the claims of actual sexual assault victims.” Oberst has denied the accusations and filed a defamation suit earlier this year in response. A [recent TMZ story](http://www.tmz.com/2014/07/08/conor-oberst-bright-eyes-rape-accusation-lawsuit-defamation-judgment/) claimed the rape accusation led Oberst’s label to drop him, but the label told the _NME_ [that the report was inaccurate](http://www.nme.com/news/conor-oberst/78421). The full statement reads: --- > “” --- \[[_BuzzFeed_](http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/woman-who-accused-conor-oberst-of-rape-i-made-up-those-lies?bftw=main)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2982902/conor-oberst-rape-accusations-false/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2982902/conor-oberst-rape-accusations-false/"},"headline":"Conor Oberst's Rape Accuser Admits Making Story Up 'To Get Attention'","datePublished":"2014-07-14T19:49:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:08:23.559Z","description":"\"I’m truly sorry for all the pain that I caused,” writes Bright Eyes singer's accuser","url":"https://time.com/2982902/conor-oberst-rape-accusations-false/","keywords":["celebrities","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6f575f00664562/69869ba5cd6848c202095a6e/conor-oberst.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6f575f00664562/69869ba5cd6848c202095a6e/conor-oberst.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2014 Hangout Music Festival - Day 1","caption":"2014 Hangout Music Festival - Day 1","creditText":"Tim Mosenfelde—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2982902/conor-oberst-rape-accusations-false/","name":"Conor Oberst's Rape Accuser Admits Making Story Up 'To Get Attention'"}}]}] ```