RALEIGH, N.C. — The woman who falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of raping her in 2006 — a case that made national headlines and sparked tensions over race, class and the privileges of college athletes — has for the first time publicly admitted that she made up the story.

Crystal Mangum, a Black woman, said in an interview on the “Let’s Talk with Kat” podcast that she “made up a story that wasn’t true” about the white players who attended a party where she was hired as a stripper.” Because I wanted validation from people and not from God.”

“I testified falsely against them by saying that they had raped me when they hadn’t, and that was false,” Mangum, 46, said in the interview published Monday. The interview was recorded last month at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women, where Mangum is incarcerated for fatally stabbing her boyfriend in 2011.

The former Duke players were declared innocent in 2007 after Mangum’s story fell apart under legal review.

The attorney general’s office concluded there was no credible evidence that an attack ever occurred, and its investigation did not produce any DNA, witnesses or other evidence that could corroborate Mangum’s story.

The Durham prosecutor who argued Mangum’s case was disbarred for lying and misconduct. Prosecutors at the time declined to file charges against Mangum on the false allegations.

Mangum said in the podcast interview that she hopes the three wrongly accused men can forgive her.

“I want them to know that I love them and they don’t deserve that,” she said.

Durham-based podcaster Kat DePasquale said she wrote to Mangum because she was curious about the case that was getting so much attention, and Mangum wrote back saying she wanted to talk.