Obsessed fan who accused Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst of raping her at a concert when she was 16 admits the story was a LIE after he sues her for libel

Joanie Faircloth had previously accused Conor Oberst of raping her in 2003 - but on Monday, she called the claims '100% false'

She said she made up the story to get attention while she struggled with her son's poor health



After she made the three posts in the comments section of XOJane.com in December, Oberst sued her for $1 million for libeling him



Singer-songwriter said the accusations have damaged his career

A woman who claimed the singer of indie rock band Bright Eyes had raped her after a concert when she was 16 has admitted to making the story up.

Joanie Faircloth, who had accused Conor Oberst of rape in a series of online posts in December 2013, issued a statement retracting her story on Monday.

'The statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Oberst of raping me are 100% false,' the statement said.

She admitted making up the stories 'to get attention while I was going through a difficult period in my life and trying to cope with my son’s illness'.

'Liar': Joanie Faircloth, pictured, has admitted that her claims about being raped by singer Conor Oberst in 2003 were '100% false'. She said she made them when she was trying to cope with her son's illness (right)

In the statement, shared by Pitchfork, she added: 'I publicly retract my statements about Conor Oberst, and sincerely apologize to him, his family, and his fans for writing such awful things about him.

'I realize that my actions were wrong and could undermine the claims of actual sexual assault victims and for that I also apologize. I'm truly sorry for all the pain that I caused.'

Faircloth, a married mother living in North Carolina, did not expand on her son's ill health in the statement, but her Facebook posts show he is autistic and suffers from a kidney disease. He is awaiting a kidney transplant and remains in hospital.

Her comments accusing Oberst, now 33, of rape had been written beneath an article about domestic violence for XOJane's 'It Happened to Me' series in December, and were later shared on other blogs.

The posts were initially posted under Facebook name, before they were switched to 'anonymous'. They were eventually deleted.

In them, Faircloth claimed that the singer-songwriter raped her in 2003 in North Carolina after his brother, who was her English teacher at school, introduced the two at one of the singer's concerts.

Angered: Oberst, pictured in 2012, had sued her for libel after she made the claims online last December

Caught out: She had initially linked her comments to her Facebook page - leading other web users to see that some of her claims didn't match up. Instead, her online presence showed she was a big fan of Oberst



Among her false claims, she had written: 'Conor definitely took advantage of my teenage crush on him... Conor took a lot from me including my virginity, my dignity, and my self-esteem.'

She wrote that she never reported the assault because of the way her own family and friends reacted to the accusations - but that her husband had encouraged her to name him to help others.

After she had posted the claims on XOJane.com last December, her story started to unravel and Oberst sued her for $1 million for libel in February.



The civil lawsuit, which was filed in a Manhattan federal court, branded her a liar who made 'despicable, false, outrageous, and defamatory statements' about Oberst.

Oberst, who sought monetary damages, attorney fees and other costs, said that the media coverage damaged his career.

Last week, there were reports that he had been dropped from his record label, Nonesuch, but his publicist told Radio.com that this was not true.

In the lawsuit, he explained that he had been in the company of his brother, bandmates or then-girlfriend at the time he was accused of attacking Faircloth.

'[Her] statements… are not only malicious lies, but they are an insult to the millions of actual rape victims around the world,' his complaint said. 'Faircloth should be ashamed of herself.'

A decade ago: Oberst is seen right in 2003, the year Faircloth had claimed he had raped her at a show

Claims: Joanie Faircloth made her claims in the comment section of XOJane's 'It Happened To Me'

In his complaint, Oberst said that he had demanded on two occasions that she recant her story - but she had failed to do so, forcing him to file the suit.



Around the time of the lawsuit, other doubts were thrown on her claims.

The comments were made under her Facebook page, which showed her date of birth, and web users were able to figure out that Bright Eyes had not played a show when she would have turned 16.



She later switched her story to say it had been a concert for his other band, Desaparecidos

Older social media posts showed her posting positively about Oberst and his music.



'The last time I saw Desaparecidos perform at the Cat's Cradle, it was my 16th birthday and Conor pulled me up on stage and sang happy birthday,' read a post made under the name 'Joanie Faircloth' in January. 'Best memory ever.'

She had also listed Bright Eyes as her favorite band in December 2011, which Oberst's team noted in their lawsuit.



The court documents also claimed she had a history of 'catfishing', such as posing online as a boy named 'Zac' and even claiming to be a cancer patient.

