Nate Parker Apology, Wife? Rape Controversy In ’60 Minutes,’ ‘GMA’ Interviews Sparks Queries About ‘Birth Of A Nation’ Creator [Videos]


Before going into the Nate Parker rape controversy, or writing about why Nate refused to apologize in the wake of his rape accuser’s suicide, it helps to read Parker’s rape accuser’s testimony from her own words. As reported by the Inquisitr, Parker’s rape accuser got a $17,500 settlement from Penn State after a fateful night that involved plenty of alcohol — and accusations that Nate encouraged his friend — the one friend left in the bedroom the night the alleged rape happened — to “run a train,” as they say, on the rape accuser in her state of alleged unconsciousness.

As reported by Deadline, the prosecutor’s closing statements described a scene of a woman in love with Nate — an 18-year-old girl who saw herself as Parker’s girlfriend as she waited past midnight to meet Nate for a date. Plied with alcohol by other folks, the woman eventually ended up passed-out drunk in a bedroom with Nate — and would later report him for rape.

Nate’s rape accuser would face backlash for going to the authorities. According to the prosecution, Parker’s rape accuser would be called a slut and other things — even by attorneys.

“She has no motive, no motive to lie. What has happened to her? She was afraid that she was going to get kicked out of school and what happened? She left school voluntarily. She was afraid of losing friends. None of her friends are here …”

As reported by the Wrap, Nate and Jean Celestin — Parker’s The Birth of a Nation co-writer, one-time Penn State roommate and former wrestling teammate — would engage in a campaign of harassment that led their rape accuser to try and take her own life in November 1999. Nate’s rape accuser would later successfully commit suicide.

[Image by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Images]

Parker and Celestin went so far as to hire a private investigator, claimed their rape accuser before she died, to “out” her identity by showing her photos around campus to students in an attempt to allegedly dig up dirt about their rape accuser.

“Parker and Celestin hired a private investigator who showed an enlarged photograph of Jane Doe to students on campus, including to Jane Doe’s acquaintances and friends, and sought information about Jane Doe.”

Nate’s rape accuser seemed to have described the modern-day practice of online slut-shaming, harassment and worse — if the interwebs were as popular 17 years ago.

It’s because of the descriptions of Nate’s rape accuser’s sad suicidal plight, a campaign of harassment that her brother said she never recovered from, that has some folks looking for some sort of apology from Parker before plunking down their credit and debit cards on Fandango for The Birth of a Nation tickets.

As reported by the Inquisitr, a 480-word Facebook post would be written by Parker, but it would not contain an apology. After all, as some folks are noting on social media, an apology from Nate might put Parker in the position of admitting guilt.

The Daily Beast notes how a warning from Celestin’s friend could have saved him a bunch of jail time. It was an ominous warning of wisdom that the man did not heed.

“Celestin and his friend, Tamerlane Kangas, idled in the doorway, and Parker reportedly gestured for them to come join. Kangas testified that Celestin obliged, disregarding a warning from him: ‘No, you don’t want to go inside that room.'”

Now there’s controversy over whether to boycott The Birth of a Nation, or to soak up the gems that can be gleaned from watching the slave revolt led by Nat Turner – a 48-hour bloody and violent revolt that many, this writer included, didn’t know involved the deaths of women and children.

With Nate’s daughter being seen in the below 60 Minutes video — and Parker’s wife possibly peripherally heard in the below 60 Minutes video, Nate’s wife has long been a subject of curiosity to folks searching for info about Parker’s wife on Google.

With Parker being a 36-year-old Christian man who has fallen from the impossibly high pedestal that many of Parker’s fans once placed him upon before the rape case details came to light — confusing Parker’s stand-up movie characters with Nate himself — Parker is being viewed two ways.

Some are calling Parker a “G” who is fighting to make minority oppression known via Nate’s movies. Others are calling Nate a “cocky f***boy” who refuses to apologize for what he may have done wrong in the past. Some don’t understand why a 17-year-old rape case was resurrected exactly during the time when The Birth of a Nation debuts, challenging racist history.

Others still don’t understand why an alleged rape victim’s blood isn’t crying out louder for justice — no matter how much time has past — especially at the alleged hands of a Christian pastor who used churches to promote his movies.

Nate Parker, left, and Jurnee Smollett-Bell starred in The Great Debaters together [Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Images]

Me? As an African-American woman, I waver between wanting to give “The Great Debater” who is Nate a chance — knowing full well that God’s mercy and grace go a long way in our lives. I look for the sincerity in the tears in Nate’s eyes — and the way Parker’s words get caught in his throat like Nate’s choking on food whilst talking about the rape case in the below 60 Minutes interview.

I bristle at the way Parker tells Robin Roberts that he’s already discussed the rape case enough in the below GMA interview, like Nate just wants that dead rape accuser to just go away already. Parker’s case reminds this journalist all at once of college days, too much drinking, and so-called “date rape” situations that went unreported, exactly because of the torment that Parker’s rape accuser allegedly face.

Perhaps those typing “Nate Parker apology” into Facebook’s search engine so much just want to hear the sincerity and honesty that Christians should show the world. Maybe they just want to not hear another “wrongfully accused” phrase and pat answers designed more to protect the outward reputation of a “man of God” — and hear the words any of us could admit on any given day.

Those words could somewhere fall along the lines of, “Yes, I’ve done wrong things and had wrong things done to me. I apologize for the ways I’ve lied and vilified people in my life — and ask for forgiveness.”


View Nate’s 60 Minutes interview videos.

[Featured Image by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Images]

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