‘Dune’ Star Florence Pugh Calls on Men To Lead the Conversation After Alleged Cornell Fraternity Assault
Florence Pugh has never shied away from using her platform, and her response to the alleged Cornell sexual assault case has become one of the most widely shared celebrity statements of the week.
The case centers on a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court on September 16 by a former Cornell University student identified as Jane Doe. She alleges that in 2024, when she was 20, she was drugged and sexually assaulted by 7 members of the Chi Phi fraternity at a frat house in Ithaca, New York.
According to the lawsuit, she reported the alleged abuse to police 3 weeks later, but her attorney claims only 2 of the 7 alleged assailants were expelled, with others receiving lesser discipline such as workshops and essays.
Jane Doe later left the university, and she is now suing both the school and the fraternity members, claiming they failed to protect her. The fraternity chapter was barred following the allegations, though none of the individuals reportedly involved have faced criminal charges. As details of the lawsuit spread online over the weekend, Pugh posted a lengthy statement on Instagram on Sunday.
The heart of her message was aimed squarely at men. Pugh wrote that this is the moment when women need men to feel just as horrified and sickened as they do, and to take the lead in conversations about changing the tolerance and complicity surrounding this kind of behavior. She also questioned how women can be expected to believe the “not all men” argument when, in moments like this, so many stay silent.
Pugh opened the statement by saying that reading about the allegations left her feeling uneasy, sick, and anxious. She added that she knows incidents like this have happened before and hates the thought of it happening again.
The actress also took aim at how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual misconduct. She described the alleged response of university officials as unacceptable and argued that society isn’t tough enough on those who set out to harm others.
She reserved her strongest words of support for the woman at the center of the case, praising Jane Doe as incredibly powerful for standing up to the institution. Pugh also stressed that this is a human issue rather than a women’s issue, insisting that everyone is involved, especially men, and closing with a call for people to be angry on behalf of survivors.
The statement didn’t reach everyone as intended. Later on Sunday, Pugh confirmed the post had been partially taken down after some users reported seeing content warnings on it. She then shared another screenshot of her statement and called out Instagram for allegedly limiting its visibility.
The public outcry comes as the legal situation evolves. On Sunday, Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten confirmed that his office is reopening a criminal investigation into the case.
Cornell has responded to the growing attention as well. The university said it supports the DA’s decision to give the alleged victim’s account an opportunity to be heard by a criminal grand jury, while pushing back on what it called a false narrative that there were minimal consequences in the case.
The school has also noted that federal privacy law prevents it from disclosing specific information about individual students. In an earlier statement, Cornell said it takes sexual violence extremely seriously and confirmed the Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains barred from campus.
Pugh’s statement has helped push the case into a much wider public conversation, particularly around accountability and the role men can play in confronting sexual violence. With the criminal investigation now reopened, attention will turn to whether the case moves forward in the courts.
Do you agree with Florence Pugh that men should take a more active role in conversations about sexual violence?
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