This article mentions allegations of sexual assault.
Earlier this month, a civil lawsuit was filed against Cornell University and seven men of the Chi Phi fraternity who were accused of gang raping a then-20-year-old Jane Doe in 2024.
Troubling details have emerged in the days since Doe filed her lawsuit and New York prosecutors reopened their investigation. On social media, screenshots reportedly included in the complaint have circulated online. They show an alleged Snapchat group chat called "Chi Phi Activities," in which alleged members advertised "Free pussy in alum pu." One member of the chat purportedly responds to this, "I fucking love chi phi."
Another detail that's garnered widespread discourse was Cornell's response to Doe's allegation that the seven accused were given "the opportunity to mitigate their conduct by submitting essays."
"None of the individuals charged were offered the opportunity to write essays as a sole consequence of their involvement," the university said in a published statement.
As new information and discourse about the lawsuit continue to swirl, some celebrities are weighing in on the situation. Here's what they had to say:
Academy Award nominee Florence Pugh posted a statement to her Instagram account, saying, "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. I'm processing quietly and watching everything and everyone and every man. I have a few thoughts on this horrific act that happened at Cornell College in 2024. I know this has happened before, and I hate the idea of it happening again."
She continued, "This is really the moment where we need our men to be as horrified and as sickened as us. You need to be leading conversations about how we change the allowance and complicity of this behavior as much as we are. How can you expect us to trust that it's 'not all men' when in moments like this, many of you stay quiet?"
"The thing that makes me most heartbroken, is it's a want to kill a soul. This is a killing of a soul. Destroying of a body and killing of a soul. And they've been let off? All it takes is write a quick 'I'm so sorry I raped a girl while she was drugged with my friends, we thought it would be fine?' essay and you're good to go! This is unacceptable," she wrote.
"I'm no longer tired- I'm enraged by schools protecting boys, in fear of their futures being wrecked. What about the life that those girls then have to endure, with the knowledge that his reputation is more precious than her truth?" the actor wrote.
She finished, writing, "There is no equality until you stop damaging our souls. There is no equality until you let us live. There is no equality until we can say we feel safe. We are the life force of this earth, start fucking protecting us. Be angry for us. Please."
The Frozen actor also posted a statement to his Instagram, which reads, "Let me be loud and clear. When we start setting a precedent that our girls and women can be brutally raped, and the resulting disciplinary action is to hand out (checks notes) ESSAYS (like it's Bart Simpson being a lil' rascal), about why it was wrong to brutally violate an innocent girl, we have lost our fucking minds."
Activist and actor Jameela Jamil was succinct, posting a single photo to her page that reads, "I think the likes of the Cornell 7 shouldn't be allowed penises anymore. They used them as weapons, so now they have to be confiscated. I think jail time, legal castration and a removal of the shaft seems like the bare minimum."
Another celebrity speaking out in support of Jane Doe and condemning the seven alleged Chi Phi rapists is Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams.
Williams reposted a photo of the seven men accused of gang raping Jane Doe in 2024 — Matthew Ingalls, Diego Sarabia, Winston Lee, Scott Kretzschmar, Scott Norris, Gillio Lopes, and Jonathan Newell. Above the photo, Williams wrote, "arrest them. fuck them and fuck cornell too."
And, finally:
Sunny Hostin
On the other hand, The View cohost, Sonny Hostin, said the case is being reported "unfairly" and "inaccurately."
"She voluntarily drank a lot, she voluntarily snorted ketamine off of one of the boys' body parts...she was highly intoxicated, but had made plans to meet one of the boy— young men. She allowed other boys and consented to other boys snorting ketamine off of her body," Hostin said. "And, under New York law, voluntary intoxication or drug use that merely impairs judgment does not legally constitute an inability to consent to sexual activity."
Hostin continued, "So, that means if you voluntarily ingest drugs, you voluntarily take alcohol, you can agree to have threesomes, which, in her statement, she agreed to have two separate threesomes."
"I say all of that to say, the pictures of these young men, who have not been charged, have not been adjudicated, are being plastered all over the internet," Hostin said. "I think people are reporting this story inaccurately. I think they're reporting it unfairly. And, while this is something that we have to take very seriously, there is no way, according to her statement in 2024, that any prosecutor would've brought forth a case."
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
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