Who is Nate Parker? That’s the question everyone is asking now that news of his past rape charge are resurfacing. This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the filmmaker, who is in the midst of promoting his new film, The Birth of a Nation. Many who are interested in the story and the movie have been searching for terms like, “Nate Parker trial,” “Nate Parker net worth,” and “Nate Parker movie,” in order to get more information on the trial, the victim, and why this is all being brought up again. To help give you all the information in one place, we’ve decided to make a Nate Parker wiki.
Early Life
Nate Parker was born on November 18, 1979 in Norfolk, Virginia to a teen mother and father. After his father died, Parker’s mother remarried, but he would always have power struggles and arguments with his new stepfather, resulting in fights at school. Later, Parker decided to move to Virginia Beach to live with his maternal uncle, who was a wrestler. When Parker’s great-grandmother got sick, his mother moved back in with him, his four uncles, and aunt. Parker once said that they didn’t have much in the way of material possessions, but they always had each other.
Rape Charges
Thanks to his uncle’s training, Parker attended Penn State University on a wrestling scholarship but later transferred to the University of Oklahoma after the rape allegations.
As a sophomore at Penn State in 1999, Parker and his wrestling roommate, Jean McGianni Celestin, were accused of raping another Penn student. The unnamed woman accused both Parker and Celestin of raping her while she was unconscious and intoxicated. Celestin, who co-wrote, The Birth of a Nation, was convicted of sexual assault and served a six-month sentence in prison. He later appealed the verdict, but the case never made it to court, because the victim never testified again in 2005.
Parker was acquitted of the charges after testifying that his sexual encounter with the victim was consensual. Parker left a heart-felt post on his Facebook page when he discovered that the victim had committed suicide in 2012, due to a pill overdose.
Wife and Kids
Parker married Penn State alum, Sarah DiSanto, a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. They met in college (Penn State) in Erie’s Frontier Park in the summer of 2007. When he was just starting out his acting career, Nate Parker’s wife and mother lived in a small one-bedroom apartment in North Hollywood with three of his sisters. Parker and DiSanto are now the parents of five daughters together.
The Birth of a Nation
What should be a time to promote his new film, The Birth of a Nation, is now time being used to defend himself in the eyes of Hollywood and potential viewers. Parker directed and starred in The Birth of a Nation, which was first seen at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and despite the 17-year-old rape scandal, is still expected to make its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film has already received a lot of Oscar buzz but can it survive Parker’s past? Now it seems that many will judge the man rather than the movie. It also doesn’t help that the deceased victim’s brother commented on his late sister’s depression after her assault.
Do you think Parker should still be defending himself after being cleared of the charges? Will you be seeing The Birth of a Nation at TIFF? Let us know in the comments below!
