Florence Pugh speaks out on Cornell rape lawsuit, says Instagram censored her: 'This affects all women'

Florence Pugh has spoken publicly about the allegations involving a former Cornell University student, saying the case has affected her and that she wanted to use her platform to discuss it.

The actor, who is currently promoting Netflix's East of Eden, addressed the case during an appearance on The View. She also said Instagram had removed or blocked an earlier post in which she had attempted to speak about the allegations.

Pugh explained why the case had prompted such a strong reaction from her, while discussing the wider impact of stories involving sexual violence.

"I am a woman and this affects all women. Women that I know, women that I don't know. Rape is something that the fear is something that lives inside our bodies. When stories like this come out… and it is really not picked up in the way that you hope it is picked up. It makes me feel scared, anxious and so much rage," she said.

Pugh also referred to the response to her earlier Instagram post, saying she was disappointed that she could not discuss the case there.

"I am lucky enough to do what I do and that I have a platform. I wanted to talk about it and I wanted to share how it made me feel. I am able to come here and talk about it in real life. 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 and they can't talk about it. It is an ongoing conversation, which it always be, until we are harder to those who do that to women," she added.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a civil lawsuit in New York Supreme Court on September 16.

According to the lawsuit, she went to Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity house to see a friend. The complaint alleges that she was given ketamine and subsequently sexually assaulted by seven men.

The filing alleges that multiple people "began engaging in sexual acts with Plaintiff, all without her consent."

The seven men named in the lawsuit are Winston Lee, Scott Kretzschmar, Scott Norris, Matthew Ingalls, Johnathan Newell, Gillio Lopes and Diego Sarabia.

Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, has said that the disciplinary consequences did not go far enough. He has said that two of the seven men were expelled, while others received other sanctions, including essays, and that none of the accused men was arrested.

The allegations have not resulted in criminal charges.

Cornell has said it investigated the allegations and took disciplinary action in accordance with its procedures.

In a statement issued on September 21, the university said it "condemns sexual violence", describing such conduct as "fundamentally incompatible" with its principles.

Cornell said the matter was reviewed by its Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. The Xi chapter of Chi Phi remains banned from campus.

The university also said there were limits on what it could disclose publicly because of student privacy protections.

"Federal privacy law prohibits Cornell from disclosing specific information regarding individual students and we therefore are unable to make a public statement on any other disciplinary response."