PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Telephone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@endtodv.org
Florence Pugh, Gamma Bias, and the Cornell University 7
LONDON – 9th October 2026 — The “Cornell 7” refers to a group of seven former Cornell University students and Chi Phi fraternity members who were publicly accused of the gang rape and drugging of a 20-year-old female student (referred to as Jane Doe) in October 2024.
The case gained widespread national attention and sparked immense outrage following a civil lawsuit filed by Jane Doe on 16 September 2026, which alleged that both local authorities and the Ivy League university failed to protect her or adequately punish the men involved.
Florence Pugh is an acclaimed English actress who has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most versatile and prominent talents. After making her professional screen debut in the mystery drama The Falling (2014), Pugh earned widespread critical praise for her breakout role as a ruthless 19th-century bride in Lady Macbeth (2016).
Pugh is involved with the “Cornell 7” case because she has used her massive public platform to condemn the alleged assault and the university’s handling of it. In late September 2026, Pugh shared an eight-slide Instagram post stating she felt “uneasy and sick and anxious” after reading details of the lawsuit. She stated she was “enraged” by the case.
Dr Joanna Williams is a British author, academic, and commentator who writes extensively on education, culture wars, and gender. She wrote of the Cornell 7 and Pugh in The Spectator: ‘For feminists like Pugh and AOC, the Cornell case is straightforward: a traumatised young woman bravely fighting for justice against the men who raped her and an establishment that let them get away with it. But scratch the surface, and things are more complex.
‘Three weeks passed between the night of Doe’s alleged attack and her decision to inform campus police that she had been sexually assaulted and coerced into taking ketamine. Newly released files compiled as part of the university’s investigation reveal that during this time, Doe told her roommates what had happened, but did not describe herself as a rape victim.
The next day, she told her sorority mentor that rumours were circulating that she was a ‘slut’ before adding with a laugh that ‘unfortunately they are true.’ When one of the men she would go on to accuse of assaulting her messaged to apologise for how the evening had panned out, she replied: “At the end of the day non of the sexual stuff was illegal and honestly i really liked being w u and matt.” The pair exchanged more friendly messages in the days that followed. Only as campus gossip grew did Doe begin to see herself as a rape victim.’
The case of the Cornell 7 has brought the connected subjects of consent law and ‘voluntary intoxication’ screaming into focus. Dr Michael Naughton of Empowering The Innocent and the University of Bristol is currently challenging the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on its misandrist bias in charging these cases.
If two or more people engage in sexual activity when under the influence of stimulants, how can it be right or fair that the male party or parties are investigated or charged in any human rights or equality act in the world? The answer is it can’t, except through the prism of legal-dominance feminism with presupposes females as victims and males as perpetrators. As unfortunate as all this is for the Cornell 7, their ordeal might yet lead to more fairness in law.
The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — unites 235 member organizations from 44 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. https://endtodv.org/coalitions/davia/
1. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckly0leelnz4o
3. https://spectator.com/article/the-cornell-seven-and-the-problem-with-consent/
4. https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/3515efe9-8b97-4a81-93a1-512b01d58fa5/ (p75)
