A woman identified as Jane Doe alleges that seven Cornell fraternity members drugged and repeatedly sexually assaulted her at the Chi Phi house in October 2024. Three of the men have publicly denied the allegations, and an attorney for one of them has criticised actress Florence Pugh for commenting publicly, warning that outrage should not imply guilt before the evidence is assessed.

The 101-page lawsuit says one member posted a message in a fraternity Snapchat group referring to “free p***y” upstairs. Texts reportedly sent two days after the alleged attack show Doe telling one accused man that her memory was “super clouded” and that “none of the sexual stuff was illegal”; her lawyer says she was traumatised and in denial. Tompkins County’s district attorney has reopened the criminal investigation, saying prosecutors will assess evidence they did not have in 2024, with a senior sex-crimes prosecutor assigned and evidence due to go before a grand jury.