r/CelebLegalDrama

How to Destroy a Reputation in Hollywood, as Told in 5 Women’s Lawsuits

Five women have said they were the targets of malicious public relations campaigns that were spearheaded by three influential players.

In recent years, at least five women have filed lawsuits describing malicious public relations campaigns intended to destroy their reputations.

While the lawsuits differ, they all claim the smear campaigns were carried out through anonymous websites, fabricated social media posts or promotion of unflattering articles and posts on the internet. They describe a new lane in the field of crisis management where public relations, legal services and the dark web converge.

The highest-profile lawsuit came from the actress Blake Lively, who said a campaign was waged against her in 2024 in retaliation for accusing the actor Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment. Mr. Baldoni denied the claims and filed a countersuit, which was dismissed.

Ms. Lively, in her lawsuit, which was settled earlier this year with no payout of damages, described a coordinated social media campaign orchestrated by three businesspeople — a Los Angeles lawyer, a New York publicist and a Texas digital strategist.

A network of three professionals was instrumental in running an operation to destroy reputations, several lawsuits claim. It was a mostly untraceable combination of tech services, crisis communication and legal firepower.

To examine the allegations, The New York Times interviewed more than 60 people, reviewed court documents and chat transcripts, and analyzed hundreds of anonymous websites and fabricated social media profiles. A pattern emerged.

The campaigns were launched within months of each other and were designed to be untraceable, but digital bread crumbs remained: The same language echoed across multiple websites, and invisible links drove traffic back and forth among them. Text messages and legal depositions filed as part of lawsuits support the allegations that all three individuals were working together.

The lawyer, Bryan Freedman; the publicist, Melissa Nathan; and the digital strategist, Jed Wallace, have dismissed the allegations as defamation and harassment, and in several cases have countersued to clear their names.

The Times sent detailed requests for comment to Ms. Nathan, Mr. Wallace and Mr. Freedman. “Allegations are not facts and these allegations are neither truthful nor accurate,” Mr. Freedman wrote in an emailed response. “Just like the Blake Lively matter, anyone asserting this nonsense will end up with nothing.”

Ms. Nathan and Mr. Wallace did not respond.

The women who have sued describe the shaming campaigns as an internet wrecking ball, forever changing how the public views them.

“I don’t know who to trust anymore,” said Paige Jimenez, a model and chef who was targeted by a campaign in October 2024 and filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday evening. “It’s a really lonely life.”

The ‘Pit Bull,’ the P.R. Agent and the ‘Hired Gun’

The three people at the center of the allegations have very different public profiles and business approaches.

Mr. Freedman, the lawyer, is a household name in celebrity circles and has a packed roster of high-profile clients. Ms. Nathan, an expert in crisis communications with well-known clients of her own, has spent years cultivating close relationships with journalists. Mr. Wallace, who runs a company based outside Austin, Texas, that describes itself as a crisis public relations firm, keeps a low profile and rarely speaks to the media. His most revealing public disclosures about himself have appeared on LinkedIn, where he once described himself as a “hired gun.”

The lawsuits, as well as text and email messages obtained in discovery, suggest that Mr. Freedman, Ms. Nathan and Mr. Wallace began working together as early as 2023.

All three began receiving attention when The Times reported in 2024 that Ms. Lively was suing Mr. Baldoni, his studio and his public relations team in their dispute over her allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.

Ms. Lively’s complaint highlights a text message noting that Ms. Nathan, Mr. Freedman and Mr. Wallace knew each other before she filed her lawsuit and that Mr. Wallace and Mr. Freedman are “very close.” TAG, Melissa Nathan’s public relations group, and Mr. Wallace are both defendants in her suit against Mr. Baldoni; Mr. Freedman, who is not named as a defendant, is Mr. Baldoni’s lawyer.

Her claims of sexual harassment were dismissed on a legal technicality: She was an independent contractor, not a full-time employee, on the set of the film, meaning federal employment anti-discrimination laws could not be applied. But in April a judge in New York federal court allowed three claims — including two centered on the allegation of a smear campaign — to proceed to trial, although the actress opted instead to settle the case in May.

Hundreds of pages of depositions and discovery materials in her case point to links with other campaigns. In a sworn deposition filed days before the settlement in Ms. Lively’s case, Katie Case, a former vice president at TAG, stated that TAG and its staff were asked by Dwayne Johnson, known as “The Rock,” to create a website about his former publicist, Stephanie Jones. It described Ms. Jones as someone who leaked her clients’ secrets and mistreated her employees, the deposition said.

Ms. Case also said she wrote the text for a website that disparaged women who had accused three brothers, Tal, Alon and Oren Alexander, of sexually assaulting them. The brothers, well known in wealthy party circles in New York and Miami, were convicted of sex trafficking earlier this year.

Mr. Johnson, in a statement from a representative, denied that he had ever ordered a website against Ms. Jones, calling the allegations “categorically false,” and added that he would never “commission any company to disparage Stephanie Jones or anyone else.”

Jim Case, who is Katie Case’s father and her lawyer, said in a statement that Ms. Case did not know that what she was being asked to write may have been false. When she asked to do work she felt at odds with, he added, “she left TAG.”

Lawyers for the Alexander brothers declined to comment. Juda Engelmayer, their press representative, said in an email that “the Alexanders do not control or operate anonymous third-party websites” and declined to comment further.

The legal discovery conducted by Ms. Lively’s team helped the other women who sued realize their campaigns were connected, they all told The Times.

‘Alexa Nikolas Exposed’

Alexa Nikolas, 34, is a former child actress who starred in Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” in her early teens. She is now an activist against sexual violence who has staged public protests against sexual assault, including at a concert by the D.J. and producer Diplo over sexual misconduct claims, which he has denied. She appeared in the documentary “Quiet on Set” about the abuse child actors faced at Nickelodeon in the 1990s.

In 2021, she was in the throes of a lawsuit against her ex-husband, the Canadian indie musician Michael Milosh, whom she accused of sexual battery and abuse after they split. Mr. Milosh was represented by Mr. Freedman.

She said she found news clippings that showed that Mr. Freedman had been accused of participating in the gang rape of a 17-year-old at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985. The teenager sued Mr. Freedman and two of his fraternity brothers; Mr. Freedman paid her a $40,000 settlement, according to the Nov. 8, 1991, case file in California’s Alameda Superior Court. Mr. Freedman denied the allegations and was never criminally charged in the matter.

Ms. Nikolas organized a protest against Mr. Freedman outside his offices in Los Angeles to bring attention to the assault allegations. Her protest prompted an article in Business Insider publicizing Mr. Freedman’s history of paying a settlement to a woman who accused him of gang rape.

She filed a defamation suit earlier this year in Los Angeles, accusing Mr. Freedman, Ms. Nathan and Mr. Wallace of spreading a retaliatory digital campaign about her filled with “damaging lies.” In her lawsuit, Ms. Nikolas says the site appeared to be retaliation for her protest.

One week after the Business Insider article, in late November 2022, a website describing Ms. Nikolas as a “sinister and criminal force” was published: “Alexa Nikolas has threatened to ‘leak’ and outright manufacture claims of sexual assault against people, exes and executives since the Nickelodeon days!” the website read. “Revenge and control are what drives her.”

“The timing of this website is no coincidence,” she wrote in her complaint. “At this point, Defendant Freedman knew Ms. Nikolas was exposing his past allegations of gang rape and the website explicitly sought to discredit her.”

The website was then amplified by at least 16 social media profiles and more than 70 Wikipedia posts with similar language, a strategy that all the women who have sued say manipulates internet search results to give more credence to lies and smears.

“The campaign planted all these seeds of doubts within my community. It was designed to harm me,” Ms. Nikolas said. “It’s psychological torment.”

In August, a judge rejected Mr. Freedman’s bid to dismiss her case; her suit is now moving to discovery.

Ms. Nikolas, who has two young children, said the website and its allegations made her entire family unsafe.

“It creeps up around you,” she said. “The target is, first and foremost, psychological impact on the victim. But then other people start to feel at risk, too, and they are people that you love, and you don’t ever want them to feel unsafe.”

Invisible Signals

Anya Fernald, a sustainable food expert and former “Iron Chef” judge, founded a high-end organic meat company, Belcampo. In 2021, it was revealed that Belcampo had been passing off factory-farmed meat as sustainable and organic. Ms. Fernald, who was no longer chief executive at Belcampo during the scandal, contends she was made a scapegoat in the fallout. She hired Mr. Freedman to defend her and, with his help, received a multimillion-dollar settlement.

By 2024, she thought she had put the experience behind her. She was also moving on from another difficult experience in her life — a long-term relationship with Andrew Huberman, a pop-culture neuroscientist.

Mr. Freedman was also Mr. Huberman’s lawyer — Ms. Fernald introduced them before the couple split.

In March 2024, months after the couple broke up, Ms. Fernald spoke under a pseudonym to New York magazine about her relationship with Mr. Huberman, accusing him of infidelity and verbal abuse. Within days, she was outed online as the source of the allegations. An anonymous website and a fake X profile appeared online, making unfounded allegations about her role at the company and in the fallout. The posts painted her as a fraudster who had driven the company into the ground.

She had no idea where the site had come from. But then she received a call from a lawyer for Ms. Nikolas, who had reviewed a digital forensics report detailed in Ms. Nikolas’s lawsuit. Sites about Ms. Nikolas had backlinks — invisible signals that drive internet traffic — to YouTube videos about the Belcampo scandal. Ms. Nikolas’s suit also alleges “common authorship” on Wikipedia pages smearing both women. Other websites verified by The Times had backlinks to both Ms. Fernald and four more people interviewed for this story who said they were targeted by campaigns. Ms. Fernald said she still isn’t completely clear about who created the sites targeting her, and is not among the women who have filed a lawsuit.

But either way, she said, she doesn’t regret speaking publicly about Mr. Huberman, and added, “I knew he was going to counterattack” in some way.

Mr. Huberman did not respond to a request for comment.

‘The Ketamine Queen’

Ms. Jimenez, 28, got her start as a teenage model and became a culinary influencer after appearing on “MasterChef” at 18.

On Oct. 17, 2024, she was living in Los Angeles and newly in love. She was waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up for dinner — they were planning to go to the Georgian Room in Santa Monica, where she loved to order the dry aged steak, mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.

She and her boyfriend had grown up together on the same island in Hawaii, but “my family was from the poor side,” she said in an interview. The couple had recently reconnected in Los Angeles and had only been dating a few months, but “we were inseparable,” she said. “We were so deeply in love.”

A number she didn’t recognize flashed on her phone. The man on the other end of the call identified himself as Mr. Freedman, her lawsuit states, and told her he had been hired by her boyfriend’s wealthy parents. Her romantic relationship was over, Ms. Jimenez recalled his telling her.

A few hours later, the man who identified himself as Mr. Freedman sent her a text message that included a link to a website entitled “Paige Jimenez, the Real Ketamine Queen,” the lawsuit states. The Times reviewed the text message. The site posted her full home address and described her as a ketamine dealer who was wanted for questioning in the death of the actor Matthew Perry — a completely fabricated allegation, according to her lawsuit — as well as crimes in several cities. “She will be behind bars very soon,” it said.

It was filled with other unfounded accusations: She was a prostitute and gold digger, it said, but also resurfaced several true points from Ms. Jimenez’s past that she had worked hard to overcome, most notably that she had briefly made adult content for OnlyFans in her early 20s.

Ms. Jimenez said the website — which had suddenly become the top Google result for her name — pushed her into a depression. She was forced to seek inpatient psychiatric treatment and she and her boyfriend eventually broke up for good.

“There are some weeks where I just don’t want to get out of bed,” Ms. Jimenez said in a recent interview.

Her lawsuit, filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Mr. Freedman, Mr. Wallace, Ms. Nathan and their companies, accuses all three of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

‘An Actual Prostitute’

Jessica Serfaty, an actress and model who has appeared on “America’s Next Top Model,” was engaged to Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, heir to the $47 billion Luxottica fortune, when she went on Instagram Live in July 2024 and claimed he had hit her and made her head bleed.

There is no blood visible in the video, but Ms. Serfaty appears visibly distraught.

She recanted the allegation a few days later after several face-to-face meetings with both Mr. Del Vecchio and his lawyer, but only did so because she was pressured, she told The Times. She maintains that her fiancé did in fact hit her.

Shortly after Ms. Serfaty’s accusation, websites and social media profiles describing her as an “actual prostitute” who “resorts to lies to endanger the people that love her” appeared on the internet.

In September, Brad Beckworth and Christina Yarnell, two lawyers working with Ms. Jones, the publicist, filed a lawsuit on her behalf against Ms. Case, the former vice president at TAG. The Times obtained several profanity-laced audio recordings related to that case; Mr. Wallace sent them in the summer of 2024 to Mr. Del Vecchio and TAG employees. Mr. Wallace references the work of Ms. Nathan as he explains how he will bolster the popularity of fake websites targeting Ms. Serfaty.

“Hundreds and hundreds of links go up every single day to get this to track and to tell the algorithm this has credibility,” he said in one, referring to the allegations posted about her. In another note, he said the process was not just about creating a fake storyline, but making sure people viewed her as a “hooker, liar and a prostitute.”

In a third note, he notes that “people are already starting to pound on her as being a lunatic” on Reddit, the giant online social media forum, “which is exactly what we wanted.”

Mr. Del Vecchio and his representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Con Artist’

Ms. Ghost, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, was one of the producers of “The Deb,” the directorial debut of the actress Rebel Wilson. Text messages and emails unearthed by her lawyers offer up the most visible paper trail yet of how the various campaigns are connected and have played out.

The first public signs of conflict between Ms. Wilson and Ms. Ghost appeared in July 2024 when Ms. Wilson told her nearly 11 million followers on Instagram that Ms. Ghost and other producers had embezzled the movie’s funds and tried to block its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Ms. Ghost sued, accusing Ms. Wilson of defaming her because she had wanted both screenwriting and songwriting credits on the film, which Ms. Ghost had claimed belong to other artists.

The first public signs of conflict between Ms. Wilson and Ms. Ghost appeared in July 2024 when Ms. Wilson told her nearly 11 million followers on Instagram that Ms. Ghost and other producers had embezzled the movie’s funds and tried to block its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Ms. Ghost sued, accusing Ms. Wilson of defaming her because she had wanted both screenwriting and songwriting credits on the film, which Ms. Ghost had claimed belong to other artists.

Text messages and emails first reported by The Times and included in Ms. Ghost’s lawsuit show Ms. Nathan, who was a publicist for Ms. Wilson, then walking her through how a disparaging website would unfold and how much it would cost.

Another text message shows Ms. Nathan telling one of her employees, “Rebel wants a [sic] one of those sites.” In August 2024, a website surfaced calling Ms. Ghost “the Indian Ghislaine Maxwell” and a “con artist, a thief and a pimp.”

Within a week, Ms. Nathan received an email from Ms. Case, the former employee. Mr. Wallace is copied.

“Let me know if this works better :)” Ms. Case wrote at the top of email, whose subject was “Draft for your review.” The email, which is also included in Ms. Ghost’s suit, contained the same paragraphs of disparaging language that would be posted on the websites.

Melissa Nathan Allyson Thompson, a lawyer for Ms. Wilson, in an emailed statement, did not deny that Ms. Wilson had sent the texts in question or asked Ms. Nathan to create the website. But she insisted Ms. Wilson, not Ms. Ghost, was the victim. She added that Ms. Ghost had enlisted public relations representatives who had “sought to damage Ms. Wilson’s reputation in the press,” and cited a separate lawsuit in Australia where Ms. Wilson had been accused of defamation, and charges were dismissed.

“Ms. Wilson did not personally and intentionally retain Melissa Nathan of the TAG Group to destroy Ms. Ghost’s reputation,” the statement reads. “Those allegations are false. If anything,” it added, Ms. Ghost’s “own conduct harmed her reputation.”

Ms. Case said in a text message to a colleague and a deposition under oath in California’s Los Angeles Superior Court that she wrote text for several “takedown sites” while at TAG and that those sites were built by Mr. Wallace.

An email from Ms. Case to Ms. Nathan in October 2024 had the subject line, “Items I’m working on at the moment.” The email lists “site drafting” for projects including Jessica Serfaty, Amanda Ghost and the Alexander brothers.

Those documents also included a text chain where Ms. Nathan directs Ms. Case to invoice $20,000 for additional work from Mr. Wallace; she provides Ms. Case with an account name and address.

“Who knew drafting a few things would be this lucrative,” Ms. Case responds.

“Stick with me, kid,” Ms. Nathan replies.

It's been proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the toxic trio engages in astroturfing, paid bot campaigns, social media manipulation, and the creation of "smearing" websites.

And somehow the Baldoni supporters just sail past it like they can't read.

That was the whole crux of the case, we know the three of them do it constantly, but somehow it's not relevant.

Why?

Imagine being a Baldoni supporter and STILL saying he is a good person after today’s New York Times piece on Melissa Nathan, Bryan Freedman and Jed Wallace. Baldoni supporters: what is WRONG with you? You’re seriously going to defend a trio that targeted the Alexander brothers’ rape victims, alongside everything else appalling that is mentioned in the article?

Note: Trigger Warning for SA and Sexual Content.

Content warning: This story discusses sexual assault at length. If you need to talk to someone, RAINN’s 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 1-800-656-4673. 

DECISION MAKERS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY - SPOTLIGHT:

SOURCE: Cornell University - Meet the New Chair of the University’s Board of Trustees:

The first woman in the post, Anne Meinig Smalling ’87 has a lifelong love of Cornell—where ‘we really want to do the greatest good’

Quote:

How do you envision your role as chair, and how do you hope to make the most impact?

The institution—not just Cornell, but all of higher education—is faced with a number of headwinds, so I hope I’m able to help navigate them. I feel strongly that Cornell is a unique and special place, and I know we’ll come out of this stronger and better. My commitment is to help make that happen.

We’re incredibly lucky to have very strong leadership. [President Kotlikoff] and his team are amazing, both in their capabilities and their dedication to the institution. It’s my job to make their work as easy as possible, while ensuring that we’re hearing, listening to, and understanding perspectives from all different stakeholders.

We’re a large board—64 people—and we have great participation from our emeritus trustees. So there are normally more than 100 of us in the room. And to some people, that may not seem like a positive—but it really is a strength, because we have the opportunity for very fulsome discussions, and the freedom to state our opinions.

https://alumni.cornell.edu/cornellians/meet-smalling-trustee-chair/

University Statement - Special committee of Board of Trustees retains Sally Yates of King & Spalding to lead independent review

https://statements.cornell.edu/2026/20261006-special-committee.cfm

Quotes:

A newly formed Special Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees announced today that it has retained former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, a partner at law firm King & Spalding LLP, to lead a comprehensive independent review of how the University prevents and responds to sexual harassment, sexual assault and related misconduct on campus.

The review will examine Cornell’s policies, practices and resources across the full range of prevention and response, including how reports are received and investigated; how students are supported; how hearings, disciplinary decisions and appeals are handled; the role, processes and response of campus police; coordination with other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors; campus safety reporting; and policies and oversight involving fraternities, sororities and other student organizations. It will also examine the Board’s oversight of these issues.

As part of that broader mandate, Yates and her team will conduct a detailed review of the University’s response to the allegations involving Jane Doe and members of the Chi Phi fraternity in October 2024, including whether Cornell followed its policies and procedures in responding to the matter.

The Special Committee is comprised of Chair of the Board of Trustees, Anne Meinig Smalling, and fellow trustees, Jennifer L. Davis, Tara Holm, Howard L. Morgan Ph.D., Beckie Robertson, Stephen C. Robinson, Esq., Martin F. Scheinman, Esq., and Robert W. Selander.

The review will assess Cornell’s practices against applicable requirements under Title IX, the Clery Act, the Violence Against Women Act’s Campus SaVE Act and New York State law, as well as recognized best practices in higher education for preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.

The review will assess Cornell’s practices against applicable requirements under Title IX, the Clery Act, the Violence Against Women Act’s Campus SaVE Act and New York State law, as well as recognized best practices in higher education for preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.

ABC News: How phone calls, records could impact probe into alleged gang rape at Cornell [Video]

ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmire discusses the latest in the investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Cornell University.

https://abcnews.com/video/136999825/

ABC News: 'Damage control': Phone calls, records suggest some Cornell frat brothers tried to contain 'gang rape' allegations

Jane Doe reported the incident to Cornell police, but no charges were brought.

https://abcnews.com/US/damage-control-phone-calls-records-suggest-cornell-frat/story?id=136987960

ABC News: Cornell police received tip about Chi Phi fraternity seeking to keep alleged gang rape under wraps

The frat was concerned about "the reputation of all involved," records show.

https://abcnews.com/US/cornell-police-received-tip-chi-phi-fraternity-seeking/story?id=137009526

ABC News: Cornell taps former deputy AG Sally Yates to lead independent review

The Special Committee of Cornell's Board of Trustees appointed Yates.

https://abcnews.com/US/cornell-taps-former-us-deputy-attorney-general-sally/story?id=137039606

ABC News: Cornell vows transparent investigation

Cornell University's president spoke out for the first time in a video message, promising a transparent investigation and acknowledging that the school "must do better."

https://abcnews.com/video/136991666/

ABC News: A crowd of students protests Cornell's response to gang rape complaint

https://abcnews.com/US/wireStory/cornell-building-sprayed-graffiti-blasting-schools-response-gang-137008360

GMA/ABC: Video Overview of Text Messages

https://abcnews.com/video/137002292/

Indiana Daily Student:  OPINION:  JANE DOE LIVES ON EVERY CAMPUS

https://www.idsnews.com/article/2026/10/opinion-iu-cornell-sexual-violence-whitten-campus 

COURT TV:  ‘Cornell 7 Gang Rape’ Lawsuit UNPACKED! Here’s What We Know – Case Overview [Long format video]

https://youtu.be/HJHTRFBXDIQ?si=Wq0C6KhXhwVfVgpo 

NewsNation (via ABC News):  'Condemning': Trial attorney analyzes phone call in Cornell rape case | Elizabeth Vargas Reports

 https://www.newsnationnow.com/vargasreports/condemning-trial-attorney-analyzes-phone-call-in-cornell-rape-case/

NBC NEWS:  Cornell Faculty Senate introduces no-confidence resolution over handling of alleged 2024 sexual assault

The resolution was submitted to the University Faculty Committee on Monday evening, according to a copy obtained by NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cornell-faculty-senate-introduces-no-confidence-resolution-handling-al-rcna601824

CBS News:  Man accused in Cornell rape case allegedly asked sorority member not to "say anything that she thinks might've happened," Title IX investigation transcript says

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/cornell-university-case-jane-doe-man-accused-transcript/

CBS News:  Former Cornell fraternity members, dragged into scandal, ask university to clear their names

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cornell-fraternity-former-members-ask-university-clear-their-names/

CBS News:  Cornell administration building vandalized amid uproar over university's handling of alleged gang rape

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/cornell-university-protests-jane-doe-gang-rape-allegations/

NBC News:  Accused Cornell Students Allegedly Tried to Coordinate Responses

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxRN0Q5Di2A

NBC News:  Cornell rape accuser faces threats demanding she drop her lawsuit, attorney says

The woman’s attorney said women mistakenly identified as Jane Doe have also received threats and he received one Sunday morning.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cornell-student-gave-police-leads-alleged-rape-feels-betrayed-handling-rcna601520 

NBC News:  Cornell rape accuser faces threats demanding she drop her lawsuit, attorney says

The woman’s attorney said women mistakenly identified as Jane Doe have also received threats and he received one Sunday morning.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cornell-jane-doe-receive-threats-rcna601417

NBC News:  New revelations in Cornell rape investigation

We’re seeing dramatic video of a confrontation with one of the men accused in the Cornell sexual assault case. This as questions grow over how the alleged 2024 incident was handled.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/new-revelations-in-cornell-rape-investigation-270969925874

NBC News:  DA did not review witness statements and other evidence Cornell police collected in alleged gang rape of student

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he based his decision not to pursue charges on the accuser’s initial six-page statement given to police.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/da-not-review-additional-evidence-cornell-police-collected-alleged-gan-rcna601252

NBC News:  Cornell University police made drug arrest hours before alleged sexual assault

A police log records a drug incident at Chi Phi nearly 22 hours before the alleged assault. It doesn’t identify the drugs involved or establish a connection between the incidents.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cornell-university-police-made-drug-arrest-hours-alleged-sexual-assaul-rcna601309

POP PSYCH:  The Cornell Case: Why No One Helped | Psychologist Reacts  [Long Format Video - Interesting Overview of Range of Issues]

https://youtu.be/pKtRl62viPk?si=dmhG1KyPR53-tN2M

WSJ: Campus Rape Allegations Are Upending the Tenure of Cornell’s President

Michael Kotlikoff had spent his presidency navigating federal-funding disruptions and antisemitism controversies—until a campus sexual-assault furor erupted

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/campus-rape-allegations-are-upending-the-tenure-of-cornells-president-09dba446

https://archive.ph/GVR6Y

Dr. Leslie Clinical and Forensic Psychologist - COR7 Complaint: Civil Case, Institutional Failure & Trauma Psychology

https://youtu.be/_gZpABmMYXY

NOTE: Afternoon update

CNN: Jane Doe is getting death threats as Cornell students stage a 7-hour sit-in denouncing college sexual assault

http://archive.today/2026.10.07-100149/https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/07/us/cornell-lawsuit-student-protests-hnk

https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/07/us/cornell-lawsuit-student-protests-hnk

Boston Globe: ‘Nothing has changed’: Cornell assault case reignites female fury 
Beyond #MeToo: New wave of rage erupts over alleged frat gang rape

http://archive.today/2026.10.07-102603/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/07/metro/cornell-case-snapchat-messages-outrage/

CBS News: Details Emerge in Cornell University Rape Allegations Chi Phi Fraternity Details

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cornell-university-rape-allegations-chi-phi-fraternity-details/

Reuters: Pressure mounting on Cornell administration, president over handling of alleged gang rape

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/pressure-mounting-cornell-administration-president-over-handling-alleged-gang-2026-10-07/

WAPO: Reports of sexual violence are up. Data from Cornell and other colleges in 8 charts.

Incidents at Cornell are more likely to be reported to law enforcement but less likely to result in serious discipline compared to statewide figures, data shows.

http://archive.today/2026.10.07-105639/https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/10/07/sexual-violence-is-up-data-cornell-colleges-nationwide-8-charts/

https://preview.redd.it/4xx3khao74uh1.png?width=1415&format=png&auto=webp&s=32465405466b82ff37484b9b1ee2a579c5075775

The Cut: What we know about the Cornell 7 Case

https://archive.ph/W6tbZ

Podcast: WHYY - What lessons should we learn from the Cornell 7 case?
After years of campus reforms and #MeToo, why does it feel like nothing has changed?

https://whyy.org/episodes/what-lessons-should-we-learn-from-the-cornell-7-case/

ABC News: Cornell police received tip about Chi Phi fraternity seeking to keep alleged gang rape under wraps

The frat was concerned about "the reputation of all involved," records show.

https://abcnews.com/US/cornell-police-received-tip-chi-phi-fraternity-seeking/story?id=137009526

Video: https://abcnews.com/video/137038082/

ABC News: Cornell police pressed fraternity members on how they knew alleged sex was 'consensual'

"The general rumor that was going around was that it was a consensual thing."

https://abcnews.com/US/cornell-police-pressed-fraternity-members-knew-alleged-sex/story?id=137059936

CBS News: VIDEO - Cornell professor alleges efforts to keep rape allegations "as quiet as possible" - Interviews with ChiPhi Members by CUPD

https://youtu.be/RvW5psa5Jdg?si=rqOovzfLa0b7BCSK

CBS News: Former Cornell fraternity members, dragged into scandal, ask university to clear their names

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cornell-fraternity-former-members-ask-university-clear-their-names/

Quotes: I have not seen this reported anywhere else

A group of former Cornell University students say they are being falsely connected to the alleged 2024 fraternity house rape, and smeared and targeted online, and they want the college to say explicitly that they were not among men accused in the incident.

The former students, members of the Chi Phi fraternity who graduated in 2022 and 2023, say online sleuths have wrongly pegged them for harassment, leading to negative personal and professional consequences. 

A lawyer for the group asked the school in a letter on Oct. 3 to clear them and others who graduated prior to the alleged assault.

"We understand that federal privacy law limits what Cornell may say about individual students, and we are not asking Cornell to identify anyone who was in the group chat," wrote attorney Adam Ford, referring to a Snapchat message thread from the night of the October 2024 incident. "We are asking for the opposite: a public confirmation as to who was not."

Video: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cornell-fraternity-former-members-ask-university-clear-their-names/

CBS News: Cornell accuser facing death threats VIDEO

The former Cornell student who alleges Chi Phi fraternity brothers gang raped her at a party in 2024 is receiving intense backlash for coming forward, including death threats, her lawyer told CBS News. Lilia Luciano reports.

Video: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/jane-doe-in-cornell-rape-case-facing-death-threats-backlash-for-accusations/

NYP: Sick threats against ‘Cornell 7’ Jane Doe revealed — including twisted phone call threatening to ‘shoot’ her family if she doesn’t drop suit

https://nypost.com/2026/10/07/us-news/cornell-7-jane-doe-harassed-with-death-threats-cant-guarantee-youll-be-safe/

The Seattle Times: This is the argument we should be having about the Cornell rape case  (Op-Ed)

By Nicole K. McNichols

Special to The Seattle Times

I am a Cornell graduate and a former sorority member. Since then, I’ve built my career as a human sexuality professor who teaches about 4,000 undergraduates annually at the University of Washington. My class, which encompasses the topic of consent and assault, is one of the largest courses of its kind in the country.  

FOX News: Bar named in Cornell rape lawsuit disputes accuser's account, says she was never served alcohol while underage

Moonies Bar & Nightclub in Ithaca, New York, says bartenders only served guests with over-21 wristbands at sorority event

 By Michael Dorgan , CB Cotton , Bryan Llenas Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/us/bar-named-cornell-rape-lawsuit-disputes-accusers-account-says-she-was-never-served-alcohol-while-underage

The END - Anything posted after 6 PM EST will be posted tomorrow

NOTE: I don't usually look at up/downvote stats but today was now 2nd day in a row that I noticed a good amount of downvote activity for a simple daily post of article links. I will keep my eye on this issue as I find this disturbing given the basic nature of this content.

IDK if the downvoting reflects the content links or not and so if anyone has any constructive feedback on the links and is willing to share then please post a comment as IDK why the downvoting is happening. I am doing for now a daily post and am sharing what I'm reading to keep up with the case on a daily basis and my goal was to just share the list with others as finding source based content is sometimes tricky. I'm glad to share the links but if the content isn't wanted then please let me know that too and I will discontinue the post. The Mods of this subreddit have kindly allowed me to do this daily post and I thank them for allowing this as I don't think anything like this has ever been done here before. Thank you Mods!

But, I also commit to not post articles victim shaming and blaming or the related DARVO content that is flooding the internet now. Sadly there are many of these types of articles. I also do not plan to post any further Megyn Kelly (or similar related content from someone like Maureen Callahan of DM etc.) unless something posted becomes a broader point of discussion surrounding the case. I will post direct interviews and direct quotes to the media by any of the named parties to the civil litigation or their attorneys as I find them as we have heard from a few of the attorneys representing the Cornell 7 over the past 2 weeks.

Today we heard from Moonies Bar (Named Defendant) owners and so this article is included. I think that attorneys for the Cornell 8 (Including Chi Phi former President - see Newsday article yesterday) have all commented or issued statements at this point with the exception of #1 Ingalls. We did see an article from TMZ yesterday stating that Teny Geragos (represented Diddy) and her firm will be representing one of the Cornell 7 but the article didn't give the name of the party being represented. At present I believe the civil case is awaiting responses from the named defendants.