Right-wing commentator Megyn Kelly launched an attack on the alleged Cornell University gang rape victim, calling her “not the most attractive gal.”
A former Cornell student claimed in a bombshell lawsuit, in which she is only identified as Jane Doe, that she was drugged and raped by seven men at the Chi Phi fraternity house in Ithaca, New York, in 2024, when she was 20 years old.
The horrific allegations have captured global attention and sparked protests on the Ivy League university’s campus. New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened a criminal investigation into the allegations. Supporters of the student have also flooded the Internet with “I am Jane Doe” messages in solidarity.
Several of the men were expelled, though none has been criminally charged. All have denied wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, Kelly, 55, questioned during The Megyn Kelly Show on Monday whether the student put herself in the alleged situation because she was seeking attention.
Apparently reacting to pictures and video online that purport to identify Jane Doe, Kelly said: “No one will even consider the possibility that this woman made a decision to get it on with four men total, not seven, and enjoyed it because — I’m just going to be honest, she's not the most attractive gal.
“She’s extremely beefy in her arms and her legs. She has a whole video online talking about her cankles,” Kelly claimed.
“And she possibly enjoyed being ‘admired.’ This is how women make these mistakes. ‘Admired,’ ‘wanted,’ some women even foolishly say ‘loved’ by these guys at Cornell. But this is probably a first for her. She’s probably thrilled to be so admired because she clearly didn’t grow up the incredibly beautiful one.”
“I’m not trying to be insulting,” Kelly added. “I’m just trying to tell you the narrative that is likely to have occurred here, in my opinion. And why can’t we account for that possibility? That the girl who was never the most sought-after suddenly had four guys who wanted to have sex with her. And she counted this, yeah, in her inebriated state, as a win and liked the feeling of being sexy and desired and wanted. It happens. Sorry, it does. And that’s why she kept saying yes.”
Kelly also took issue with reports that the alleged victim took several weeks to report the incident to campus police.
“Why do we have to go right to ‘she’s a victim?’” Kelly asked. “Even she took weeks to get there. It wasn’t until they told her she couldn’t go to the party. We all know that. Right? This is so disempowering to all of womankind, to all of us, to our daughters. We are capable of making decisions. She made the decision to drink and then show up at a fraternity house at 11 o’clock.”
Jane Doe filed a lawsuit against Cornell and seven former Chi Phi members last month. Despite reporting the incident to campus police, no criminal charges were filed.
The Chi Phi chapter at Cornell was shut down and the university has said it expelled some of the students and suspended others. In a statement last week, the administration bristled at the “false narrative that there were minimal consequences in this case.”
However, students have demanded further accountability. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that Jane Doe was “failed by people and institutions,” including the Cornell police and local District Attorney Matthew Van Houten.
Hochul appointed the state attorney general last week to take over a criminal investigation that Van Houten had reopened following the lawsuit. The governor also called for an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the case.
Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff released an apologetic video Saturday, saying that Jane Doe's account “raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.”
Kotlikoff shared his support for the independent review of the university's actions and vowed more transparency and a commitment to "finding the answers our community deserves.”
