It looks like Camila Mendes has her Riverdale castmates’ backs. The actress has publicly shown her support for them after they were “falsely accused” of sexual assault.
“It’s incredibly destructive to falsely accuse people of sexual assault. Whatever point this person was trying to make about how quickly people believe what they read, it was not worth damaging the integrity of the Me Too movement,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories on Monday, June 22. “It’s sickening and doesn’t prove anything except that there are twisted people in this world who have no concern for the consequences of their harmful actions.”
“Sending love to my castmates who had to deal with this nonsense,” she added. “Love you guys.”
For those who missed it, an anonymous Twitter account with the handle @Victori66680029 claimed — in a series of tweets posted on June 21, 2020 — that Cole Sprouse “became aggressive” and “shoved” her against a bed during a party at NYU in 2013. They added that they “told him multiple times to stop, and he wouldn’t listen.” Other Twitter accounts then accused Lili Reinhart, Vanessa Morgan and KJ Apa of sexual assault as well.
“Earlier today, myself and three other cast mates were falsely accused of sexual offense by anonymous accounts on Twitter. I take these accusations very seriously, and will be working with the right teams to get to the root of it,” Cole wrote on Twitter on June 21, 2020. “False accusations do tremendous damage to victims of actual assault. Furthermore, I would never seek to silence anybody. I encourage that people look into the accusations themselves, as the events detailed were factually untrue.”
Cole concluded his statement with, “This seems to be the latest claim in a series of incidents seeking to baselessly cancel my cast mates and me.”
Then, Lili took to her own account and addressed entire thing.
“I have always taken sexual assault allegations seriously. But it was proven that this account was created specifically to create false stories about me and my cast. I can’t think of something more twisted than lying about sexual assault,” the actress said. “It invalidates the men and women who are brave enough to come forward with the truth. This kind of lie can ruin lives and careers — and I can call it a lie because the person who made the allegations already admitted that the stories were fabricated.”
She also told followers that the cast is “looking into taking legal action.”
“This kind of sick behavior only harms true survivors. This was incredibly triggering for me and scary because I’ve always supported survivors and believed them,” the CW star added. “I hope and pray that this does not discourage real survivors from speaking out about their experiences.”
Their costar, Madelaine Petsch, also spoke out about the situation. She said she was “taken aback” and had “no words” about the allegations, in a series of Instagram Stories posts.
“I’m really unsure why anyone would think that’s an okay thing to do,” she told followers. “As someone whose been sexually assaulted, I have no words. This is the reason I was scared to come forward and talk about my experiences.”
She added, “Honestly, how dare you? Because this is the reason victims are afraid to come forward in the first place. This is the reasons why people don’t believe sexual assault victims, and yet you’re out here doing this online.”
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
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