Conor Oberst
Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst's name was cleared after Joanie Faircloth admitted she lied about the musician raping her. Reuters

Joanie Faircloth, the woman who alleged Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst sexually assaulted her, admitted she lied on Monday.

“The statements I made and repeated online and elsewhere over the past six months accusing Conor Obert of raping me are 100 percent false,” she told Buzzfeed in a notarized statement. “I made up those lies about him to get attention while I was going through a difficult period in my life and trying to cope with my son’s illness.

“I publicly retract my statements about Conor Oberst, and sincerely apologize to him, his family, and his fans for writing such awful things about him.

“I realize that my actions were wrong and could undermine the claims of actual sexual assault victims and for that I also apologize,” she said. “I’m truly sorry for all the pain that I caused.”

In December 2013, Faircloth wrote in the comment section of a xoJane article that Oberst raped her 10 years ago after a North Carolina concert when she was 16. But Oberst's lawyers called the claim “absolutely, unequivocally false," according to Buzzfeed, and in February, Oberst filed a libel lawsuit against her. Until her apology, Faircloth did not attempt to legally defend herself and did not respond to attempted contacts from Oberst’s lawyers.

It’s unclear what will happen to the libel lawsuit.

According to Rolling Stone, Oberst, 34, was not available for comment since he’s on tour in Europe.

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