Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE
'Birth Of A Nation' Atlanta Screening

Source: Prince Williams / Getty

On the heels of a poor box office showing for Birth of a Nation, Nate Parker is now in the midst of another controversy.

According to The New York Times, court records indicate that Penn State officials may have been lenient with Parker during his time at the university in an incident related to sexual misconduct.

As reported by The Times: Suspended from the wrestling team when he was criminally charged with rape, he was reinstated in the fall of 2000 while still facing trial. Within weeks, a female student trainer complained that he had exposed himself to her. But after she decided not to go to the police, despite the urging of the university, Penn State appears to have dropped the matter. Prosecutors are trying to assess whether the school’s handling of Mr. Parker suggests a broader pattern of inaction by the athletic department when it came to complaints of sexual misconduct, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation who are not authorized to discuss it publicly. “This is the first Mr. Parker has ever heard of this,” David J. Matlof, his lawyer, said in an email. “He recognizes the seriousness of the issue, but this claim is completely untrue.”

The Times report goes on to chronicle his time at the school and subsequent transfer to the University of Oklahoma.

 

RELATED STORIES:

Steve Harveys’s Candid One-On-One With Nate Parker: “I Am Supportive Of Anyone That Has Had To Endure That”

Gabrielle Union Pens Powerful Essay In Response To Nate Parker Controversy

Better Late Than Never? Nate Parker Gets Honest About Rape Case

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.