 "Birth of a Nation" attracted increased scrutiny due to rumored Oscar nominations, and because the film itself depicts a brutal rape, the 1999 rape allegations against Parker received significant press coverage.Fox Searchlight Pictures, the studio releasing the film, went into damage control mode.Gabrielle Union, a rape victim and one of the main stars of "The Birth of a Nation", wrote in the "Los Angeles Times", "As important and ground-breaking as this film is, I cannot take these allegations lightly."