Birth of Nation star and director Nate Parker refused to apologize for his role in the gang rape of a college girlfriend.
In a 60 Minutes interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Parker arrogantly said he didn’t feel “guilty” for the 1999 rape.
“As a Christian man, just being in that situation, yeah, sure,” he said when asked if he did anything morally wrong. “I am 36 years old right now… my faith is very important to me. So looking back through that lens… it’s not the lens I had when I was 19 years old.”
Parker was acquitted of rape in a 2001 trial. But his accomplice, and co-writer of ‘Nation’, was found guilty. The victim refused to testify in a retrial after Parker and his pals allegedly harassed and taunted her.
The father-of-5 daughters said he was shocked to learn of his victim’s suicide after he attempted to use his acquittal to market his movie.
“I had absolutely no idea. I found out on the news,” he tells Cooper. “(It was) devastating. Shocking. I couldn’t believe it.”
The ensuing scandal derailed the movie’s Oscar hopes.
The 60 Minutes interview is set to air five days before Birth of a Nation hits theaters.
‘Nation’ is already a colossal failure, judging by the negative buzz on social media and message boards.
Watch an excerpt from the interview here.
