'Riverdale' star Camila Mendes defends Cole Sprouse and others against sexual misconduct allegations: 'It's so insane to me'
Camila Mendes is condemning anyone who would falsely say they were the victim of sexual assault, after anonymous Twitter users accused several of her Riverdale costars — including Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, KJ Apa and Vanessa Morgan — of sexual misconduct over the weekend.
“It's so insane to me that somebody would do such a thing to prove a point,” she said Tuesday on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. “It seems so trivial, like ‘Oh, really, you went to that extent? To damage not only the integrity of the #MeToo movement but also potentially damage the careers of these people and their lives?’ To do that in order to make a point about how easily people believe things is just so backwards to me, and I feel for my castmates who had to deal with that."
She made a similar statement Monday on her Instagram Story, calling such actions “sickening” and “incredibly destructive.”
Spouse and Reinhart denied the accusations. Kapa has not responded, while Morgan shared Sprouse and Reinhart’s words.
The person behind one of the accuser’s accounts reportedly also wrote, “Do you see how easy it is to lie and you guys will believe it? Vanessa Morgan and KJ Apa didn’t do jack s***. You will believe anything.”
The allegations against the actors have since been deleted.
In Sprouse’s statement, he wrote that he’d been falsely accused.
Earlier today myself and three other cast mates were falsely accused of sexual offense by anonymous accounts on twitter. I take these accusations very seriously, and will be working with the right teams to get to the root of it. (1)
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) June 22, 2020
False accusations do tremendous damage to victims of actual assault. Furthermore, I would never seek to silence anybody. I encourage that people look into the accusations themselves, as the events detailed were factually untrue. 2
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) June 22, 2020
This seems to be the latest claim in a series of incidents seeking to baselessly cancel my cast mates and me.
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) June 22, 2020
Reinhart said, in part, “I have always taken sexual assault allegations seriously. But it was proven that this account was created specifically to create false stories about me and my cast. I can’t think of something more twisted than lying about sexual assault.”
She also spoke about the damage that any untrue allegations of sexual misconduct can have on actual victims.
I have always taken sexual assault allegations seriously. But it was proven that this account was created specifically to create false stories about me and my cast. I can’t think of something more twisted than lying about sexual assault. It invalidates the men and women who are- https://t.co/qcZMXYPNLQ
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) June 22, 2020
Brave enough to come forward with the truth. This kind of lie can ruin lives and careers- and I can call it a lie because the person who made the allegations already admitted that the stories were fabricated.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) June 22, 2020
We are looking into taking legal action. This kind of sick behavior only harms true survivors. This was incredibly triggering for me and scary because I’ve always supported survivors and believed them.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) June 22, 2020
I hope and pray that this does not discourage real survivors from speaking out about their experiences.
— Lili Reinhart (@lilireinhart) June 22, 2020
Cast member Madelaine Petsch noted that, as a sexual assault survivor, she’s “deeply deeply disturbed that anyone thinks that it is okay to falsely accuse someone of sexual assault.” She called false accusations “disgusting.”
As someone who has been sexually assaulted, I am deeply deeply disturbed that anyone thinks that it is okay to falsely accuse someone of sexual assault. This is why real assault allegations can sometimes not be taken seriously, you should be ashamed. This is disgusting. https://t.co/EX8mUIuFGJ
— Madelaine Petsch (@madelainepetsch) June 22, 2020
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