The exotic dancer who once accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her. admitted tIts week tHe invented the hat. The 2006 allegations sparked a fiery national conversation about gender, race and class.
Crystal Mangum, now in prison for second-degree murder, said she “made up a story that wasn’t true” against the one-time defendants. David Evans, Colin Finnerty And Read Seligmann who “didn’t deserve it.”
“I gave false testimony against them by saying they raped me when they didn’t and that was false,” she told podcaster Kate Caterina. “Come talk to Kate.” In an interview that dropped this week.
“I betrayed the trust of many others who believed in me and created a story that was not true because I wanted validation from people and not from God and that was wrong when God already loved me. Who I was.”
Mangum and another dancer were hired by the Duke lacrosse players to perform at a party on March 13, 2006.
He claimed the players rapped him in blockbuster accusations that touched on hot-button topics like sex work, race and class.
Charges against the players were eventually dropped, but it was later revealed that Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong had withheld evidence from defense attorneys that could have cleared the men long ago. Prosecutor It was discontinued in 2007..
“That night Red Seligman, Colin Finnerty and Dave Evans, they took me into their house and they trusted (me),” Mangum said at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women.
“The Bible says you shall not harm your neighbor … and they were my brothers, and they trusted me that I would not betray their trust.”
46 years old She said she was “looking for validation” when she made up the lies and now hopes former Duke players will one day accept her apology.
“I hurt my brothers,” he said. “I want them to know that I love them and they didn’t deserve this and I hope they forgive me.”
Mangum Convicted in 2013. for second-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of boyfriend Reginald Day on April 3, 2011. He was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.
She is scheduled to be released on February 27, 2026, according to North Carolina prison records.
Evans, Seligman and Finnerty did not immediately return telephone, text and email messages seeking comment Friday.