NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Three University of Virginia graduates on Wednesday filed a defamation lawsuit in New York against Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher Wenner Media and a journalist over a now-debunked 2014 article describing a fraternity gang rape.

The three men, all 2013 graduates and members of Phi Kappa Psi, the fraternity at the center of the story, claim the magazine was negligent in publishing an article entitled "A Rape on Campus" by Sabrina Rudin Erdely. They are seeking damages for defamation and infliction of emotional distress.

Rolling Stone apologized in December for "discrepancies" in the account, after the story sparked a national debate over sexual violence on college campuses. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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