Nate Parker, the star and director of slavery historical drama “The Birth of a Nation,” avoided a question on Sunday about whether he should have apologized to his accuser in a 17-year-old rape case, saying he did not want to “hijack” attention from the film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
“This is a forum for the film, this is a forum for the other people that are sitting on this stage. It’s not mine, I don’t own it, it’s not on me,” said Parker, who was joined by the cast of his film at a news conference at the festival. “I definitely don’t want to hijack this with my personal life. I do want to make sure that we are honoring this film.”
It is the second time in two days that Parker has deflected questions about his 2001 trial and acquittal on rape charges that have dominated conversation around the film in recent weeks. During a TV interview with Reuters on Saturday, Parker was asked about why he felt it was important to have addressed the rape case while discussing the film in interviews last month. His response took the conversation back to the film about slave preacher Nat Turner.
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