CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Three friends of an alleged victim of gang rape at a University of Virginia frat house say a magazine article wrongly portrayed them as uncaring students who were more concerned about their reputations than her well-being.
Almost a month after the scathing Rolling Stone article was published, Kathryn Hendley, Alex Stock, and Ryan Duffin are still trying to set the record straight.
The friends told The Associated Press that the article about an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia frat house was wrong on a number of key points, especially its assertion that they urged the victim to not report the attack.
Their alleged indifference was woven into a narrative that used the alleged attack to paint a picture of a culture of sexual violence on college campuses in the United States. The article set off an intense debate about sexual violence, alcohol, fraternities and journalism ethics.
Duffin, a 20-year-old, third-year student referred to as "Randall" in the Rolling Stone article, told the AP that not only did he encourage the alleged victim to go to police, but he started to dial 9-1-1 on his cellphone until she begged off saying she just wanted to go back to her dorm and go to sleep.
"I couldn't help but notice that everything that the article said about me was incorrect," Duffin said.
The AP also spoke with the other two friends portrayed in the article: third-year, 20-year-old U.Va. students Hendley and Stock, known as "Cindy" and "Andy" in the article. None of the three friends was contacted by Rolling Stone's reporter, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, before the article was published; each of them rejected multiple assertions made in the article, for which Rolling Stone has since apologized for and noted discrepancies.
All three say Erdely has since reached out to them, and that she has told them she is re-reporting the story. Hendley told the AP that Erdely apologized to her for portraying her the way she did.