Cole Sprouse is speaking out after being accused of sexual assault by an anonymous Twitter account. After a Twitter user claimed on Sunday that Sprouse allegedly assaulted her at a 2013 party, the 27-year-old actor denied the “false accusations.”
According to multiple outlets, similar accusations were leveled at Sprouse’s Riverdale co-stars Vanessa Morgan, Lili Reinhart, and KJ Apa on Sunday by other anonymous Twitter accounts.
One account that made said accusations later tweeted in part “see how easy it is to lie and you guys will believe it?” according to a screenshot of the tweet. The account in question has since been suspended from the social media site.
“Earlier today myself and three other cast mates were falsely accused of sexual offense by anonymous accounts on twitter,” Sprouse wrote. “I take these accusations very seriously, and will be working with the right teams to get to the root of it.”
“False accusations do tremendous damage to victims of actual assault,” he continued. “Furthermore, I would never seek to silence anybody. I encourage that people look into the accusations themselves, as the events detailed were factually untrue.”
Sprouse concluded his Twitter thread by writing, “This seems to be the latest claim in a series of incidents seeking to baselessly cancel my cast mates and me.”
Sprouse’s ex-girlfriend, Reinhart, and Morgan retweeted Sprouse’s Twitter thread, with the former adding a message of her own.
“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,” she wrote. “I can’t think of something more twisted than lying about sexual assault. It invalidates the men and women who are 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,” she continued. “We are looking into taking legal action. This kind of sick behavior only harms true survivors.”
Reinhart added that the accusations were “incredibly triggering” and “scary” for her because she’s “always supported survivors and believed them.”
“I hope and pray that this does not discourage real survivors from speaking out about their experiences,” she concluded.
Riverdale actress Madelaine Petsch also responded to the “disgusting” allegations against her castmates.
“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,” she wrote. “This is why real assault allegations can sometimes not be taken seriously, you should be ashamed. This is disgusting.”
In addition to the Riverdale cast, Justin Bieber also retweeted one of Sprouse’s messages. The singer’s retweet came after he was accused of sexual assault by two women over the weekend. Bieber denied the accusations, saying there was “no truth” to the “factually impossible” allegations.
