# She demanded ‘hard’ sex, joked about being gang-raped… then drove her MIT scientist lover to attempt suicide with #MeToo lie. Now read the disgraceful texts that landed her $10m in debt

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/she-demanded-hard-sex-joked-about-being-gang-raped-then-drove-her-mit-scientist-lover-to-attempt-suicide-with-metoo-lie-now-read-the-disgraceful-texts-that-landed-her-10m-in-debt/
- Published: 2026-11-05T01:41:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T02:04:41+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16262731/kristin-knouse-david-sabatini-metoo-MIT.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Health, Medicine, World

## Key points

- A jury found Kristin Knouse liable for defaming David Sabatini.
- Sabatini was awarded $9.6 million in damages.
- Knouse plans to appeal the verdict.

## Summary

A civil jury found that MIT biologist Kristin Knouse defamed cancer researcher David Sabatini by falsely accusing him of sexual assault after their consensual relationship ended. The ruling reverses years of professional and reputational damage to Sabatini, who was forced out of MIT in 2021 and says the ordeal led him to attempt suicide.

Jurors awarded Sabatini $9.6 million, finding that Knouse caused severe emotional, financial and reputational harm; she plans to appeal. At trial, his lawyers used messages in which Knouse discussed rough sex and said she wanted to get him “Weinstein-ed out of science” to challenge her account. The article says their relationship lasted about a year and that Sabatini’s name was cleared five years after the allegations.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.