On December 17th a post ran on xoJane.com entitled "I Dated a Famous Rockstar and All I Got Was Punched in the Face." Part of the "It Happened to Me" series, the anonymous writer tells the story of her alleged relationship with Bright Eyes' front man, Conor Oberst.
She ends with: "The lesson? Don't be foolish like I was. Trust your instinct, your friends, and your family. Everyone knows a bad egg when they see one, and you can only try to see the good in people through so much before you end up a victim...And when I see his face on those music blogs, I simply close the page and feel thankful for my new life beyond him."
The post has since been reblogged on Tumblr and from there spread like wildfire, causing Oberst and his team to take notice. Oberst's publicist released the following statement to AbsolutePunk.net:
Usually we wouldn't feel the urge to comment on spurious blog chatter but the recent allegations made about Conor Oberst by an anonymous commenter on the xoJane website are flagrant enough to demand our response. 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 behavior attributed to him by this individual is in direct opposition to his principles. Conor is consulting with a libel attorney regarding this matter.
The accusation is from 10 years ago, when Oberst was in his early 20s and the anonymous writer claims to have been a teenager. AbsolutePunk said it appeared the writer has posted further information. The links are now dead, suggesting the blogs have been taken down.
If Oberst pursues legal action and this is proved to be a libelous account, the person behind the post could face charges.
