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Here's a detailed look at the latest #MeToo claims.
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Jun 22, 2020
Riverdale is many things — controversial, compelling, a hit amongst teenagers. But in the latest accusation to come out of the #MeToo movement, one of the stars is also being accused of sexual assault. But is there truth to the allegations?
The target of the sexual assault claim is Cole Sprouse, a former Disney star who currently plays Jughead Jones on the hit CW show.
But it didn't take long for Sprouse — and other cast members — to come out and denounce the claims.
What do we know about the Cole Sprouse sexual assault claims?
The accusations came from a "burner" (suspected fake) account.
A user with the handle "@Victori66680029," who joined Twitter earlier this month, gave a harrowing account about her alleged assault by Cole Sprouse. The tweets, which you can see below, accuse Sprouse of assaulting her at a party back in 2013. These are the only tweets that were sent from the account. Check them out below.
It didn't take long for fans of the show to leap to Sprouse's defense.
Almost immediately, fans of the Riverdale star took to Twitter to defend Sprouse against the claims. One told "Victoria" that her "false accusations" only helped to discredit those with legitimate sexual assault allegations. Another pointed out that this isn't the first time that someone had accused Riverdale stars of sexual assault — and the culprit had all come from the same IP address. Prior to "Vanessa" accusing Sprouse of sexual assault, similar claims were made from "Victoria's" IP address against Riverdale stars KJ Apa and Vanessa Morgan. And still another accused "Victoria" of trying to "cancel men for clout." Yikes.
The accusations were made two days after the allegations made against Ansel Elgort.
Just two days prior to the claims made against Sprouse, an account with a similar handle made allegations against actor Ansel Elgort. Elgort subsequently denied the accusations. Justin Bieber was also accused of sexual assault on Twitter this weekend.
Sprouse immediately issued a denial, and threatened legal action against the false accusations.
Unlike Justin Bieber — who took two days to respond to the allegations made against him — Sprouse immediately issued a denial of the accusations, and promised to take legal action against the accusers for making what he called "false accusations."
Lili Reinhart also defended Sprouse.
Almost immediately, Reinhart — Sprouse's sometime girlfriend and fellow Riverdale co-star — quote-tweeted Sprouse's denial of the accusations and made clear that false sexual assault claims were more damaging to the #MeToo movement than legitimate ones. Check out her response below.
This is a developing story, and we'll keep you posted with any updates.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.