Remember the Duke Lacrosse R*pe Case? Now She Says She Made It All Up, Sorry!

It was a national news story that forever tainted the reputation of innocent young men and a storied college athletic program.

Even though the Duke lacrosse players Crystal Mangum accused of raping her nearly 20 years ago had long been exonerated in the court of public opinion, their accuser — who is currently serving a prison sentence on an unrelated crime — recently provided a full confession.

As CNN reported:

“I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t, and that was wrong. And I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me,” Mangum said on the web show “Let’s Talk with Kat,” hosted by Katerena DePasquale.

The interview took place at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is serving time for a 2013 second-degree murder conviction for stabbing her boyfriend.

“I made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God,” Mangum said.

On the podcast, she said she hopes the three men will forgive her.

“I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me,” she said.

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Her eye-opening admission sparked a flurry of responses on social media:

It’s been 18 years since Crystal Mangum lied that she had been raped by Duke lacrosse players. Yesterday, she admitted the lie. That lie was a key factor in the rise of the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matter. Because narrative always triumphs over reality in the short term. pic.twitter.com/On5ILV1gDF

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 13, 2024

Duke Lacrosse Accuser Finally Admits: "I Made Up a Story That Wasn't True"

Crystal Mangum, the former stripper at the center of the 2006 Duke University lacrosse scandal, admitted Thursday to fabricating the story that three players raped her during a team party.

Speaking from… pic.twitter.com/6U7MpCbXTq

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) December 13, 2024

The Duke Lacrosse players were innocent.

An important reminder to always protect due process rights and the presumption of innocent innocence America. https://t.co/PRRcArJv4A pic.twitter.com/ifSLCeBP8h

— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) December 13, 2024

The New York Times provided a recap of the events that followed Mangum’s initial accusation:

The Duke case made national headlines after Mangum, a Black woman, accused lacrosse players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann of raping her at a party where she was hired to perform as a stripper. It caused the cancellation of the lacrosse team’s 2006 season, and Duke forced coach Mike Pressler to resign.

The North Carolina attorney general’s office reviewed the case and declared Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann innocent in 2007. The attorney general’s office said the charges should not have been brought against the three players and there was no DNA or evidence to corroborate the allegations.

District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred for ethics violations, including making false statements and lying about withholding evidence. Prosecutors declined to press charges against Mangum for making false allegations.

Also in 2007, Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann reached an undisclosed settlement with Duke for the school’s handling of the allegations.

“I want them to know that I love them, and they didn’t deserve that, and I hope that they can forgive me,” Mangum said of the players.

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Here’s some additional coverage of the latest development: