Cornell Jane Doe and defendant Matthew Ingalls traded texts hunting for the source of gossip

Another set of reported text messages adds to the public record in the Cornell fraternity case. This chain is between the student known as Jane Doe and Matthew Ingalls, one of the men her lawsuit accuses of rape.

The exchanges suggest that in the days after the October 2024 party the two were briefly on the same side, trying to figure out who was talking about the encounter.

Upset over gossip

Doe reached out to Ingalls on October 23, when the party was four days in the past. She said word had gotten around and she was badly stressed. Ingalls answered that he had no clue who was talking and complained about how quickly gossip moves at the school.

Doe wrote that the chatter was wrecking her life and her reputation. She said she felt deep shame and suspected some of the people who had been in the room were behind it. She added that the stories kept getting more exaggerated by the day.

Ingalls tried to comfort her. He told her she had done nothing to be ashamed of and suggested the people spreading the talk were simply envious. Doe agreed that classmates were jealous and then shared broader thoughts about changing attitudes toward sex. She described herself as open minded.

Pointing fingers

The messages show Doe at one point accusing Jonathan Newell, another defendant, of telling people about the night. Ingalls pushed back. He said an older fraternity member who had been in the room was the likely leak and insisted Newell would never do that.

Ingalls asked who had passed the rumor along so they could narrow the list. Doe said her friend would not name her own source.

A separate text chain reported earlier showed Doe speaking positively to Newell about a three-way encounter that included Ingalls.

The turn

The friendly tone ended after Doe said the fraternity president had uninvited her from an upcoming Halloween party. She told Ingalls she had seen it coming and accused the men of protecting themselves rather than being her friends.

On November 7, Ingalls messaged her again. He said an ex had told him people were publicly calling him an assaulter and asked whether Doe had said anything like that. Doe said she had not. She argued the story was shifting because in a group encounter involving one woman the woman is usually seen as the victim.

She told him she had brought up Newell but never Ingalls. He thanked her. A day later he asked to talk. Doe refused, writing that she believed he had lied and would never speak with him again.

Where the case stands

In messages reported previously, Doe wrote to Newell on November 3 that the bulk of that night had been nonconsensual. Her claims are part of a civil lawsuit.