In 2014 Rolling Stone published a story called “A Rape on Campus.” Authored by Sabrina Erdely, it detailed the brutal assault of Jackie, a freshman at the time, by seven fraternity brothers at a party at the University of Virginia (UVA).

Only there was a major problem with the story. It was and is completely false. We wrote about the appalling article and subsequent retractions here and here, with a follow up here. Understandably, the story caused repercussions everywhere. People were slammed for calling out Rolling Stone for such egregious defamatory reporting. The media circled the wagons for a time, and lives of many on the UVA campus, including those falsely accused, were negatively affected.

Fast forward to 2016 and the lawsuits filed against Rolling Stone, publisher Jan Wenner, and reporter Sabrina Erdely were moving closer to trial.

Just two weeks ago, lawsuit filed by UVA Dean Nicole Eramo went to court.