This week, the exotic dancer who originally claimed that three lacrosse players at Duke University had raped her acknowledged that she made up the 2006 accusations that sparked a heated national discussion about gender, racism, and class.
Currently serving a jail sentence for second-degree murder, Crystal Mangum claimed she “made up a story that wasn’t true” against former defendants Reade Seligmann, Colin Finnerty, and David Evans, saying they “didn’t deserve that.”
In an interview that aired this week on podcaster Kate Katerena’s “Let’s Talk with Kat,” she admitted, “I testified falsely against them by saying that they raped me when they didn’t and that was wrong.”
“I betrayed the trust of a lot of other people who believed in me and made up a story that wasn’t true because I wanted validation from people and not from God and that was wrong when God already loved me for who I was.”
On March 13, 2006, Duke lacrosse players hired Mangum and another dancer to perform at their party.
In widely reported accusations that touched on sensitive subjects including sex work, racism, and class, she said that she was raped by players.
Although the players’ charges were finally withdrawn, it was later discovered that Mike Nifong, the district attorney for Durham County, had concealed information from defense attorneys that would have freed the men far sooner. In 2007, the prosecutor was disbarred.
Mangum remarked at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, “That night, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans took me into their home and they trusted (me).”
“The bible says that you shouldn’t do harm to your neighbor … and they were my brothers, and they trusted me that I wouldn’t betray their trust.”
The 46-year-old said she cooked up those stories because she was “searching for validation” and now hopes the former Duke athletes will accept her apology.
When she said, “I hurt my brothers,” “I want them to know that I love them and they didn’t deserve it and I hope they can forgive me.”
When Mangum fatally stabbed his partner Reginald Daye on April 3, 2011, he was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2013. She received a sentence of over 14 years in prison.
According to North Carolina prison records, she is scheduled to be released on February 27, 2026.
Emails, texts, and phone calls requesting responses from Evans, Seligmann, and Finnerty on Friday were not immediately answered.
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