Nate Parker to Steve Harvey on Rape Trial: 'What Are These Journalists Trying to Do?
With Nate Parker's new film The Birth of a Nation hitting theaters nationwide on Friday, the actor has been making the promo rounds with his latest stop being Steve Harvey. While there, he was asked about his recently resurfaced college rape trial, and he blamed the media for provoking controversy through "salacious" headlines.
"What are these journalists trying to do?" he asked Steve Harvey. "Do they care about anyone involved? Do they care about what we've been talking about? I think it's been a tragedy on so many levels."
He went on to explain that when he first began to speak out about the allegations, he was not aware that his accuser had committed suicide and he even admitted to being insensitive to the situation.
"It shocked my soul. To hear that news — I wasn't prepared for it," he said. "I thought maybe she'd pop up once [the accusations] resurfaced. When this happened, and I spoke to it, it was insensitive. I caught a lot of flack for it, for being indignant and saying, 'I'm innocent. I was falsely accused and that's that!' — not realizing that, one, there should be empathy for any woman."
See what else he had to say on the controversy and his opinion on his Birth of a Nation co-star Gabrielle Union's heartfelt open letter in the clips, below:
Get the latest on Parker in the BET Breaks video, above.