Culture

Author of Discredited Rolling Stone UVA Rape Story Will Apologize Tonight

Columbia's report will be released at 8 p.m.

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Sabrina Rubin Erdely, the author of Rolling Stone's much-maligned story about a gang rape at the University of Virginia, plans to formally apologize for her mistakes, according to CNN's Brian Stetler.

Erdely stopped responding to questions and interview requests at the beginning of December, as reporters began to call into question the details of the story. (Richard Bradley and I were the first to do so.) Since then, the story has completely collapsed and was essentially confirmed as false by The Washington Post and the Charlottesville police department.

Erdely plans to break her silence tonight, according to The Daily Caller:

But now, according to CNN's Brian Stelter, Erdely plans to make a public apology nearly four months after Rolling Stone's retraction. Her apology appears to be timed to coincide with the release of a Columbia School of Journalism report on Rolling Stone's journalistic failings.

"Once the story began to unravel… Erdely disappeared. She has been invisible ever since," Stetler said on CNN's "Reliable Sources." "But my sources say that she will break her silence tonight, and she will be issuing a statement and will be formally apologizing for her errors."

As The Daily Caller notes, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism will also release its report on what went wrong tonight at 8 p.m. EDT. A press conference will be held tomorrow. Stay tuned for Reason's continuing coverage of the issue.