RICHMOND, Va. ― Three University of Virginia graduates and members of a fraternity who were portrayed in a debunked account of a gang rape in a retracted Rolling Stone magazine story filed a lawsuit against the publication and the article’s author, court records show.
The three men, George Elias IV, Stephen Hadford and Ross Fowler, filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York. They are also suing Rolling Stone‘s publisher, Wenner Media.
A lawyer for the men said they suffered “vicious and hurtful attacks” because of inaccuracies in the November 2014 article, which was written by journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
Separately, Wenner Media said in a news release that Will Dana, Rolling Stone‘s managing editor, will be leaving the magazine next month. The release said that, after 19 years at Rolling Stone, Dana “has decided he is ready for a change and a new challenge.”
The release did not mention the University of Virginia article or give any other reason for Dana’s departure.
In the lawsuit, the three 2013 graduates said the article “created a simple and direct way to match the alleged attackers” from the alleged gang rape to them based on details provided in the story.
For instance, Elias’ room at the fraternity house was “the mostly likely scene of the alleged crime” based on the details in the Rolling Stone article.
