'I was a dog': Birth of a Nation's Nate Parker addresses rape case controversy

Nate Parker, whose historical biopicTheBirth of a Nation will be screening at TIFF and has already been receiving critical acclaim, spoke out Friday about a past rape allegation after remaining silent for weeks.

• Rape case casts pallor on Birth of a Nation

"I hurt a lot of women," Parker told an audience following a screening of the film at the Merge Summit in Los Angeles. "That was normal for me, in respect to how I treated them emotionally. I was introduced to sex in a certain way."

The allegationdates back to1999, whenParker and his roommate JeanCelestin who has a story credit onThe Birth of a Nation were charged with raping an18-year-old student when they were studying at Penn State. Parker was 19yearsold at the time.

Parker, whose only commentary on the case before now has been a Facebook post, began speaking about it during a Q&A panel, even though he wasn't asked a direct question about it.

2001 acquittal

The woman said she was unconscious and didn't consent to the sex. Parker testified that he and the woman had previously had sex and Celestin maintained it was consensual.

Parker was acquitted in 2001.Celestinwas convicted of sexual assault, but that was later overturned when the woman opted not to testify again for a 2005 retrial. She sued Penn State and was awarded a settlement out of court.

The case came into the spotlight afterVariety reported the woman committed suicide at the age of 30 in 2012.

'I'm trying to be better'

"The way I treated women, objectified women my manhood was defined by how many women I could be with. I was a dog. I was wrong," he said on stage after the screeningas the credits for his film rolledbehind him.

The Birth of a Nation, which Parker directed, co-wrote, co-produced and stars in, has received rave reviews since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and thrust Parker into the spotlight.

The film about the1831 U.S.slave rebellion led by Nat Turner is set to screen at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Parker went on to say Friday that he didn't understand the concept of consent as a teenager because he never learned about it.

"That type of male culture, that type of hyper-masculinity where your manhood is determined by how many women you get to say 'yes,' is destructive."

Parker also spoke to Ebony.comat length about the chargesfollowing the Q&A.

"I'm a work in progress," he told Ebony in an article published Saturday."I'm trying to be better."

When asked if he thought about the incident over the last 17 years, he said he "hadn't thought about it at all."