Cole Sprouse, 27, has broken his silence about a sexual assault claim posted to Twitter. “Earlier today myself and three other cast mates were falsely accused of sexual offense by anonymous accounts on twitter,” Cole began the first of his three tweets, also referencing allegations made by other Twitter accounts about his castmates KJ Apa, Vanessa Morgan and Lili Reinhart. “I take these accusations very seriously, and will be working with the right teams to get to the root of it,” he continued.
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
“False accusations do tremendous damage to victims of actual assault,” the Suite Life Of Zack & Cody alum wrote. “Furthermore, I would never seek to silence anybody. I encourage that people look into the accusations themselves, as the events detailed were factually untrue,” Cole explained. “This seems to be the latest claim in a series of incidents seeking to baselessly cancel my cast mates and me,” he concluded.
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
His co-star Lili Reinhart, 23, who he reportedly split from last month after several years of dating, defended Cole and herself against the separate allegations. “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,” the Cleveland, Ohio native wrote minute after Cole’s tweets. “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,” Lili added.
“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,” the Hustlers actress posted. “I hope and pray that this does not discourage real survivors from speaking out about their experiences,” Lili concluded. Vanessa Morgan, 28, re-tweeted Cole’s series of tweets shortly after they were posted as a show of support.