Florence Pugh has refused to be silenced over Instagram’s handling of her post about alleged sexual assault at Cornell University, telling Elle in a new interview: “No one f***ing censors me.”
The Avengers: Doomsday star spoke out in September after a former Cornell student filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was drugged and raped by members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024. Pugh posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, writing that she felt “enraged” and calling on men to be as horrified and sickened as women, while criticising universities for not doing enough to protect women.
A warning label, then a reversal
Soon after, Instagram placed a sensitive-content warning on the post, obscuring it behind a message that it contained content some people might find upsetting. Pugh shared a screenshot and asked her followers whether she was being censored for talking about rape, writing: “Instagram decided to block my post from getting in front of the right people.”
Meta later told TMZ and Variety that the post was initially flagged under its rules on sexual violence content, and that the warning was removed after review because the post qualified for a newsworthy allowance. The label was removed for adult users, but Pugh was not satisfied.
“That’s just going to add fuel to the fire”
In her new interview for Elle’s Women in Hollywood issue, published on 10 November, Pugh made her position clear. “Don’t even try. That’s just going to add fuel to the fire,” she said. She also addressed the case on The View on 30 September, saying: “Rape is something that lives. The fear of it lives in our bodies.”
The allegations remain unproven in court, and no criminal charges have been filed. The Tompkins County district attorney has reopened the criminal investigation, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor on 1 October to oversee it. Pugh, who is promoting Netflix’s East of Eden, said her instinct to speak out is rooted in caring about women, both those she knows and those she does not.
Pugh has made clear she will keep speaking out, whatever the platform does next.
