Florence Pugh recently used her appearance on The View to speak out about the ongoing sexual assault case involving the Cornell 7. The actor, who is currently on a press tour for the Netflix project East of Eden, addressed the situation after co-host Sara Haines brought up her recent social media activity regarding the incident, Variety reported.
The Cornell 7 refers to seven male students accused of drugging and gang raping a female classmate at Cornell University in October 2024. The victim is now suing her alleged assailants, the university, her former sorority, and other parties. According to the attorney representing the woman, the initial investigation by Cornell led to the expulsion of only two students, while others received lighter sanctions like temporary suspensions or essay assignments.
Pugh expressed deep frustration regarding how these stories are handled. She told the audience, “Rape is something that lives. The fear of it lives in our bodies, and when stories like this come out and it’s really not picked up in the way that you hope it’s picked up, it makes me feel scared, it makes me feel anxious, it made me feel so much rage,” adding, “I’m lucky enough to do what I do and I have a platform and I wanted to talk about it.”
During the segment, Pugh revealed that Instagram placed content warnings on her posts regarding the case
The platform covered her initial commentary with a label stating the post contained content some might find upsetting. She later created a second post to call out the platform for blocking her statement. Pugh noted, “I’m able to come here and talk about it in real life, even though, sadly, Instagram censored me when I said it, which is also just another shock that women are censored, even when they go through these things, they can’t talk about it.”
😬 Florence Pugh says Instagram hid her post on alleged Cornell gang rape. https://t.co/0ZfcdHql49 pic.twitter.com/KFrLVbn8Em
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 28, 2026
In her second post, the actor wrote, “Instagram decided to block my post from getting in front of the right people. Tut tut tut. Oh dear. That doesn’t look great, does it? Here’s another go at it in case you were one of those people that can no longer see my post.” As of the latest update, the platform is still applying a content warning to that second post, though her initial message remains visible.
In her original post, Pugh described the incident as an “horrific act” and emphasized that she knew “this has happened before, and I hate the idea of it happening again.” She also called for men to take an active role in the conversation. She stated, “This is really the moment where we need our men to be as horrified and as sickened as us,” and urged them to “Be angry for us. Please.”
Other celebrities have joined the conversation by using their own platforms to condemn the actions of the accused students. Mariska Hargitay shared a statement with the Joyful Heart Foundation, which she founded to support victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She wrote, “We refuse for this victim to be reduced to just another story. Cornell has failed to protect its students.” Meanwhile, Hudson Williams shared a photo of the seven accused men on his Instagram story with the caption, “Arrest them. F— them and f— Cornell, too!”
Pugh, who is also set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three after her much-talk-about role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, remains focused on keeping the issue in the spotlight. She concluded her thoughts on The View by saying, “I feel very lucky and honored that we get to talk about this today. Thank you for bringing it up. It’s an ongoing conversation and it will always be an ongoing conversation until we’re harder on those that do that to women.”
