Photo: WENN
Conor Oberst's record label have denied dropping him following rape accusations earlier in the year.
The Bright Eyes frontman filed a defamation lawsuit after a woman accussed him of raping her when she was 16. The accusation was originally made in the comments section of a lifestyle website, and read: "I was raped by a 'rock star' myself. I was 16 years old, he was in his 20s. No one believed me (he wasn't even that famous then)."
The commenter went on to write that the rock star she was referring to was Conor Oberst, who she said she met through Oberst's brother, her English teacher. At the time, Oberst's publicist made a public statement stating that the accusations were "absolutely, unequivocally false."
Oberst has since filed a $1 million lawsuit against the woman, stating that she damaged his reputation and is "just an embittered superfan, who gushed about him and Bright Eyes as recently as January 2013."
In recent reports, TMZ claimed to have obtained legal papers which claimed the accusation caused his label to drop him. However, in a statement to NME, his label Nonesuch have said: "The TMZ report is inaccurate. Conor has not been dropped by his label."
Oberst's representative has said that all proceeds from the lawsuit will go to charities for victims of domestic violence, though domestic violence group Right To Speak Out have criticised this, saying: "As an organisation dedicated to mitigating the harm that lawsuits like Oberst's stem from and amplify, we find this more than ironic."
The singer is currently taking part in a short UK tour, which began last night (8 July0 in Manchester, and continues tonight in London. For more information, visit Gigwise Tickets.
