Nate Parker Being Accused Of Raping A Drunk Woman Who Later Committed Suicide Destroys The Opening Sales Of Film 'Birth Of A Nation'

| |

Nate Parker Being Accused Of Raping A Drunk Woman Who Later Committed Suicide Destroys The Opening Sales Of Film 'Birth Of A Nation'

October 10. 2016

Nate Parker

"Birth Of A Nation" director and actor Nate Parker, 36, is embroiled in controversy, as news surfaced he was arrested, tried and acquitted of rape while in university at Penn State. Parker's accuser later committed suicide, unable to cope with what had transpired. Parker was told to publicly apologize, lest his past ruin the ticket sales of his film "Birth Of A Nation" but he refused to do so. The movie flopped at the box office this past weekend, taking in $7,000,000 in ticket sales on a $17,000,000 budget. This is in addition to $10,000,000 in marketing costs.

In 1999, Parker asked an 18-year-old classmate out. He invited her back to his dorm room and tried to remove her underwear. She resisted, but offered to and did perform oral sex on him. Parker asked her out on a second date. However, while waiting 2-hours for Parker to arrive, she began drinking at the bar. She became drunk from consuming 4-5 alcoholic drinks.

Parker took the drunk woman back to his dorm room stating she could sleep off the drunkenness. However, while she was asleep, Parker began having sex with her, which woke her up. Parker's roommate, Jean Celestin, had sex with her as well. Parker offered a third friend who came by the room the opportunity to have sex with the drunk woman, but he declined. The doctor who examined her stated in writing her cervix exhibited the signs of, "Infection or some type of trauma."

Parker and Celestin were arrested for having sex with the drunk woman and put on trial. Parker was acquitted. His friend was initially convicted, but the conviction was later overturned when the accuser refuses to go through another trial. The victim, who was bullied on campus over her claims of rape, was distraught.

She later killed herself in 2012. Her brother later told Variety magazine, "The trial was pretty tough for her." It is for all rape victims, as defense lawyers ask hurtful demoralizing questions, paint victims as whores and the trauma of reliving and recounting the rape during the case is damaging for victims.

The point that sticks with me in this matter is a drunk person cannot grant consent. Parker and Celestin should not have had sex with the drunk woman he brought to his dorm after a date. It was an opportunistic rape. To essentially pass the drunk woman around to his friends is equally bad. The victim later stated she had no intention of having sex with Parker, as she had just met him a few days prior and only engaged in sexual intercourse during a long term relationship.