Nate Parker believes the media is out to get him.

The filmmaker stopped by The Steve Harvey Show on Wednesday and opened up about the criticism he’s faced following the media’s re-discovery of his 1999 rape case – all in the midst of promoting his upcoming film The Birth Of A Nation.

During the interview, Parker revealed that he’s spent the past month “watching the ticker of headlines, salacious headlines, asking myself, ‘What are these journalists trying to do? Do they care about anyone involved? Do they care about what we’ve been talking about?’ I think it’s been a tragedy on so many levels.”

He told Steve, “I’ve had to ask myself, ‘These headlines, are we in the business of headlines or are we in the business of healing?’ Because I’m trying to do the work. I’m trying to figure out how to navigate this space that I’m walking through as an artist who was falsely accused, vindicated [in the] judicial system.”

The actor and producer also revealed that he was unaware his accuser had committed suicide in 2012 when he began discussing the 18-year-old incident publicly. He said, “It shocked my soul. To hear that news — I wasn’t prepared for it. I thought maybe she’d pop up once [the accusations] resurfaced. When this happened, and I spoke to it, it was insensitive. I caught a lot of flak for it, for being indignant and saying, ‘I’m innocent. I was falsely accused so that’s that!’ not realizing that, one, there should be empathy for any woman.It was devastating to hear that I, at any point, had a connection with someone that felt like it was time for them to take their own life.”

Check out Nate Parker’s full interview above.

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Youtube 

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