Cole Sprouse and Lili Reinhart are denying allegations of sexual assault made against them by several anonymous Twitter users, reports BuzzFeed News.

On Sunday in the US, newly-created Twitter accounts had accused Cole, Lili and Riverdale co-stars Vanessa Morgan and KJ Apa of sexual assault and harassment. Below is the accusation made specifically against Cole Sprouse that began circulating on Twitter soon after it was posted. 

“Earlier today myself and three other cast mates were falsely accused of sexual offense by anonymous accounts on twitter,” Cole wrote in response. “I take these accusations very seriously, and will be working with the right teams to get to the root of it.” 

He went on to say he would never seek to silence anyone, but that he would encourage people to look into the accusations themselves to see that the events detailed were in fact “factually untrue”.

“This seems to be the latest claim in a series of incidents seeking to baselessly cancel my cast mates and me.”

Lili then retweeted her ex’s statement, adding, “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 anything more twisted than lying about sexual assault.”

In three more tweets, she explained that the cast was looking at taking legal action and that the experience was “incredibly triggering” for her because she’d “always supported survivors and believed them”.

“I hope and pray that this does not discourage real survivors from speaking out about their experiences.”

It’s been an unsettling 48 hours, with news breaking over the weekend that actor Ansel Egort had been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2014. (He has since denied these allegations). Shortly after, that Justin Bieber was also accused of sexual assault on two separate occasions – he has also denied these claims. 

If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia (1800 respect) or Lifeline Australia (13 11 14).

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