Published : 28 Sep 2026, 05:41 PM
Updated : 28 Sep 2026, 05:40 PM
Actor Florence Pugh has added her voice to growing outrage over an alleged gang rape at Cornell University.
The actress has called the institution's response deeply inadequate and urged men to stop staying silent, according to Variety.
The case centres on a former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, who says she was drugged and raped by seven men at a fraternity party in October 2024.
The alleged assault only became public after she filed a lawsuit against the university and the accused fraternity members, claiming both failed to protect her.
An internal investigation saw two students expelled. The remaining five received lesser penalties including temporary suspensions, workshops, and essay assignments.
No one was arrested.
In a lengthy Instagram post on Sunday, Pugh described the incident as a "killing of a soul" and said she was "enraged" by institutions that shield perpetrators out of concern for their futures, reports Variety.
"What about the life that those girls then have to endure," she wrote, "with the knowledge that his reputation is more precious than her truth?"
Pugh directed much of her anger at men, arguing that silence in moments like this undermines any claim that it is "not all men."
She called on them to lead conversations about complicity and to be as horrified as women are.
She also took aim at the broader culture of campus justice, saying universities worldwide repeatedly fail women by treating extreme harm as something to be managed rather than punished.
The post has drawn widespread attention, coming days after Pugh also spoke publicly about her support for Palestine in an interview with Vanity Fair.
