[Work in progress]
Overview
Columbia University Student’s Mattress Protest refers to a work of performance art by Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz, who carried a dark-blue mattress around her college campus to urge her university to expel her alleged rapist Paul Nungesser, who was cleared of all charges. The protest became a subject of controversy online in 2014, with some hailing Sulkowicz as a hero for women’s rights, while others denounced her as a bully and false rape accuser.
Background
In May 2014, Sulkowicz filed a police report against Nungesser
Notable Developments
On September 2nd, 2014, the Columbia Daily Spectator YouTube channel uploaded a video titled “Emma Sulkowicz: ‘Carry That Weight’”, in which Sulkowicz describes her senior thesis project (shown below). In the first eight months, the video gained over 1.9 million views.
On September 4th, Today aired a segment on Sulkowicz’ mattress protest (shown below).
Nungesser’s Response
On December 21st, 2014, The New York Times published an
On February 3rd, 2015, The Daily Beast[3] published an article titled “Columbia Student: I Didn’t Rape Her,” which contained communications Sulkowicz sent to Nungesser after the alleged rape. In the messages, Sulkowicz asks to meetup with Nungesser several times and responds to a happy birthday message by saying “I love you Paul. Where are you?!?!?!?!”
#FakeRape Protests
The @FakeRape Twitter feed began posting photographs of various locations in New York City where posters of Sulkowicz holding her mattress along with the caption “Pretty Little Liar” (shown below).
Legal Proceedings
On April 24th, 2015, Scribd user jezebel2 posted court documents from