Lili Reinhart Reveals A 'Former Government Worker' Sent Her Sexual Assault Threats Online

Lili Reinhart is opening up about the disturbing online harassment she says drove her off X years ago, and why recent controversy surrounding the platform has only reinforced her decision. The "Riverdale" star addressed the issue on Instagram Stories on Tuesday, January 27, after resharing posts criticizing X’s AI chatbot, Grok, which has come under fire for being used to digitally manipulate images into sexually explicit content. Lili Reinhart amplified a carousel originally shared by the Instagram account Feminist, highlighting growing concerns about the platform’s safety and moderation.

One of the images Reinhart reposted appeared to show a bus stop advertisement featuring Elon Musk, who owns X. The ad read, “Who the f-ck would want to use social media with a built-in child abuse tool?” and urged users to “delete your X account.”

Over the repost, Reinhart revealed she had already left the platform long before the current backlash, and for deeply personal reasons. “Stopped using X in 2024 when men were sending me messages about [how] I deserved to be raped for voting for Kamala [Harris],” Reinhart wrote.

She went on to add that “one of” the men who sent her such a message “was a former government worker.” While Reinhart did not identify the individual, she made clear that the experience played a major role in her decision to permanently walk away from the platform.

Reinhart has been vocal about her political beliefs beyond social media safety, particularly following the 2024 election and the reelection of Donald Trump. Hours before the election was called, she shared an emotional message addressing women who had accused Trump of sexual assault.

“I cannot fathom the feeling of the women who came forward about their sexual assault at the hands of Trump. Seeing millions of people vote for their abuser,” Reinhart wrote on X. “My heart absolutely breaks for these women. I believe you, and I am so sorry.”

Trump has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct over the years. Most recently, a federal appeals court declined to overturn an $83.3 million jury verdict against him related to defaming writer E Jean Carroll after denying her rape allegation.

Long before her recent comments about online abuse and political harassment, Reinhart publicly shared her own experience with sexual harassment in 2017, amid the wave of allegations against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein. At the time, many women, including several actresses, accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, with four alleging rape. Weinstein denied accusations of non-consensual sex and apologized for his past behavior toward “colleagues.”

In a Tumblr post titled “In light of the Harvey Weinstein allegations,” Reinhart, then 21, detailed a disturbing encounter she said occurred early in her career. She wrote about going on a date with a male colleague who was “pretty significantly older” than her at the time but seemed “charming and charismatic” at the time.

She said the situation quickly turned frightening. “All that matters is that he tried to force himself on me when we were on a date,” she wrote, adding that she stopped him, said no, and “physically walked away from the situation before it could get any worse,” describing it as “a scene right out of a horror movie.”

Reinhart said that after feeling “completely violated and uncomfortable,” the man later convinced her to get into his car, believing he would take her home.

“As we were driving, I realized he was trying to take me back to his apartment,” Reinhart wrote, adding that she asked him to drop her off because she didn’t want to go to his place. She said he made a “snarky comment” but ultimately brought her home, and she later tried to tell him “how uncomfortable it made me and how wrong it felt.”

Reflecting on the experience, Reinhart said the impact stayed with her. “Thinking back on it now, the situation is hard for me to swallow,” she wrote. “I was so young and didn't know how to handle the situation… I just knew how wrong it felt and that I had been violated.”

And while she no longer uses X, Lili Reinhart continues to use other platforms to speak out, making clear that stepping away from one social network hasn’t stopped her from using her voice.