The lawsuit has alleged she was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven fraternity members in 2024. Public outrage grows over Cornell’s handling of sexual assault allegations, and actor Florence Pugh is one to speak out on the matter. The actor, who has been busy promoting her Netflix show East of Eden, backed a former Cornell University student student who filed a lawsuit. Pugh also claimed Instagram blocked her original post on the case.
The former student, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, filed the lawsuit in New York Supreme Court on September 16, alleging that Winston Lee, Scott Kretzschmar, Scott Norris, Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Gillio Lopes and Diego Sarabia raped her, the report added. The actor shared that Instagram blocked her original post on the case. She spoke about it further during an appearance on The View, adding that she is glad that she had the platform to share her message despite the fact that Instagram censored her post. Women that I know, women that I don’t know. Rape is something that the fear is something that lives inside our bodies. When stories like this come out… and it is really not picked up in the way that you hope it is picked up. It makes me feel scared, anxious and so much rage. “I am lucky enough to do what I do and that I have a platform. I wanted to talk about it and I wanted to share how it made me feel. I am able to come here and talk about it in real life. Which is also just another shock that women are censored even when they go through these things and they can’t talk about it. It is an ongoing conversation, which it always be, until we are harder to those who do that to women,” she added. Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, alleged that only two of the seven men named in the case were expelled, while other fraternity members faced lesser disciplinary measures, including writing essays.
During the chat, Florence said, “I am a woman and this affects all women. Sadly, Instagram censored me when I said it. The woman was visiting a friend at Cornell’s Chi Phi house when two fraternity members allegedly pressured her into snorting what they told her was ketamine while she was drugged, according to the lawsuit. “Multiple people ‘began engaging in sexual acts (including both oral and vaginal intercourse) with Plaintiff, all without her consent,’” the lawsuit said. Giuffra also said none of the alleged attackers was arrested. Cornell said it had investigated and adjudicated the allegations in accordance with its policies. In a September 21 statement, the university said it “condemns sexual violence” and that sexual violence is “fundamentally incompatible” with its principles.
