Nate Parker's 60 Minutes interview airs on Sunday, and the Birth of a Nation filmmaker said he doesn't feel guilty about the rape allegation that has marred the movie's rollout. When host Anderson Cooper questioned Parker about being acquitted of the sexual assault charge, the actor and director declined to apologize for anything related to the incident.
“I was falsely accused. I went to court. I was vindicated,” Parker said, according to the Associated Press. “I feel terrible that this woman isn’t here, that her family had to deal with that. But as I sit here, an apology is — no.”
Parker was accused of having sex with a young woman without her consent in 1999, when the two were students at Penn State. Parker was acquitted in 1999. The woman killed herself in 2012, according to a Variety report.
Birth of a Nation, the story of Nat Turner's slave rebellion, became an awards-season frontrunner after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. In the time since news of Parker's rape charge resurfaced this August, reactions to his acquittal have been divisive. Parker has only addressed the allegation as it relates to changing definitions of sexual consent. Gabrielle Union — who has a small role in the movie — has defended him.
In the interview, Cooper pressed Parker on the morality of the filmmaker's actions, asking the star if he thinks he did anything morally wrong.
"As a Christian man, just being in that situation, yeah, sure,” Parker said, according to the AP. “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."
Watch a preview clip from Sunday's 60 Minutes broadcast, below.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT