Florence Pugh weighs in on Cornell gang rape case, calls out Instagram for banning her post
Florence Pugh has taken aim at Instagram and one of America’s leading universities as shock gang rape allegations have forced prosecutors to look at reopening a 2024 case.
Thunderbolts star Florence Pugh has weighed in on gang rape accusations embroiling one of America’s leading universities, in a lengthy social media post urging men to be as “horrified and sickened” as women over the alleged 2024 incident.
Pugh has also called out Instagram, claiming that the platform “decided to block my post from getting in front of the right people”.
Pugh’s comments followed a civil lawsuit launched by a former female student against Cornell University, claiming that the institution failed to protect her when she was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted by seven fraternity brothers in 2024.
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It’s also alleged that the men arranged via Snapchat texts to meet up before the woman’s arrival at the Ithaca fraternity house party, where she was allegedly sexually and physically assaulted in different rooms before passing out.
The bombshell civil complaint has also led New York State Prosecutors to reopen the criminal case.
Pugh weighed into the controversy on Sunday, particularly the lawsuit’s complaint that the university opened an investigation into the allegations, but limited its punishment to expulsion of two of the accused frat brothers and temporary suspensions and essay-writing tasks for the remaining men.
Pugh described the allegations as a “horrific act” and urged men to speak out and to be “leading conversations about how we change the allowance and complicity of this behaviour”.
“After reading about the young woman who was gang raped at her college by her friend and school peers, I’m feeling uneasy and sick and anxious,” she said.
“I know this has happened before, and I hate the idea of it happening again.
“This is really the moment where we need our men to be as horrified and sickened as us.
“How can you expect us to trust that it’s “not all men” when in moments like this, many of you stay quiet?”
She concluded the eight-panel post with the message: “Be angry for us. Please.”
Three hours later she reposted an image of her Instagram feed with an apparent blocked image in the top left corner and in her caption claimed that the social media platform “decided to block my post from getting in front of the right people”.
In the latest Cornell developments, US TV news network ABC said that prosecutors in New York are now reopening the case and that central New York’s county district attorney Attorney Matthew Van Houten said his office is considering whether to bring criminal charges related to the incident.
He also said the allegations were “dramatically different” to those in the statement made to police by the woman two years ago.
“It’s our intention to present the case to the Tompkins County grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation,” Van Houten told ABC News.
“We want to re-examine whether there’s additional evidence that we were not aware of in November of 2024, that exists now that would change our assessment of the case and would result in the grand jury finding that there was criminal conduct.”
