A publicist representing Conor Oberst has responded to claims that the singer sexually assaulted a woman 10 years ago, calling the accusation "absolutely, unequivocally false".

The allegations against the singer, who is 33, were made by an anonymous commentator underneath an article about domestic violence for the XOJane.com series It Happened to Me. The comment was shared on blogs and Tumblr.

In a subsequent post, the commentator claimed that Oberst was the musician who committed the alleged assault. These posts have since been deleted from the site.

Oberst has released a statement via his publicist to AbsolutePunk: "Usually we wouldn't feel the urge to comment on spurious blog chatter, but the recent allegations … are flagrant enough to demand our response."

The statement continues:

This individual's accusations are absolutely, unequivocally false. Unfortunately, the internet allows for groundless statements like this to travel the world before the truth has any time to surface. This is a particularly serious and sickening allegation, and there is no truth to it. Conor has nothing but abhorrence for the perpetrators of such crimes of sexual violence. The behaviour attributed to him by this individual is in direct opposition to his principles.

The singer added that he is consulting with a libel attorney.