After four members of the Riverdale cast were accused of sexual assault, Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart took to Twitter and spoke out.
“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,” the former Disney Channel star wrote on Sunday, June 21. “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.”
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. 2
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) June 22, 2020
For those who missed it, an anonymous Twitter account with the handle @Victori66680029 claimed — in a series of four tweets — that the 27-year-old actor “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 fans of the CW show started to notice similar posts on other Twitter accounts accusing Lili, Vanessa Morgan and KJ Apa of sexual assault as well.
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 spoke out about the entire situation.
“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 posted. “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.”
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.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) June 22, 2020
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,” Lili added.
KJ has yet to address the allegations, and Vanessa took to Twitter and retweeted her cast members’ social media posts.
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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