Photo by Frank Sun, cropped (CC BY-SA)
In an interview with Elle published Nov. 10, Florence Pugh said, “No one fucking censors me. Don’t even try. That’s just going to add fuel to the fire.” She was talking about a late-September Instagram post on a lawsuit alleging a sexual assault at Cornell University, and a follow-up after she learned Meta had restricted the original post.
The featured image is a 2024 Toronto International Film Festival portrait of Pugh.
The Lowdown
Elle is the primary source for the quote. The interview was conducted in late September, two days after her Instagram statement, and ran Nov. 10 as part of Elle’s Women in Hollywood package. Details of how Meta handled the post come from a statement the company made to TMZ, which we are using only for that point. The Cornell case is a lawsuit making allegations; the student is not named here.
Key Takeaways
- Elle published the Kayla Webley Adler interview on Nov. 10, 2026, with photographs by Norman Jean Roy.
- Pugh told Elle, “No one fucking censors me. Don’t even try. That’s just going to add fuel to the fire.”
- Elle says the conversation took place two days after Pugh’s Instagram statement about the Cornell lawsuit, and after she posted again when she learned the original post had been blocked by Meta.
- Meta told TMZ the post was first flagged for sensitive content and that the restriction was lifted after a further review.
- The lawsuit alleges that seven Chi Phi fraternity members drugged and sexually assaulted a female Cornell student in 2024. Those remain allegations. The student is not named here.
The Full Story
What She Told Elle
Kayla Webley Adler’s Elle interview, published Nov. 10, places Pugh in New York in late September, two days after she posted on Instagram about a lawsuit alleging a sexual assault at Cornell, and after she posted again when she learned Meta had blocked the original. That is when she told Adler, “No one fucking censors me. Don’t even try. That’s just going to add fuel to the fire.” The piece is part of Elle’s 2026/2027 Women in Hollywood package and also covers her work in East of Eden and other forthcoming films.
What Meta Told TMZ
TMZ, in a Nov. 10 report, said Meta later told the outlet the post was initially flagged for sensitive content, and that the restriction was lifted after further review. We did not independently reopen Pugh’s original Instagram post for this story; the account of what she posted, and that Meta had blocked it, comes from Elle, with Meta’s explanation coming from its statement to TMZ.
The Lawsuit, Carefully
The lawsuit, as described in those reports, alleges that a female Cornell student was drugged and sexually assaulted by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity in 2024. Those are allegations in a civil case, not findings. The student is not identified here. Pugh is not a party to the case; she was speaking as a public figure about why she posted.
Why She Said She Posted
Asked why she felt she had to say something, Pugh told Elle, “Because I’m a woman who cares about women.” She also said her father had taught her to stand up to bullies and to use the platform she has. She told Adler that rape “can never ever be a conversation that we move on from,” and that attempts to shut down that conversation were, in her words, only going to add fuel to the fire. More celebrity coverage is on our Celebrity page, and Pugh’s Who’s Who profile is here.
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