Sarah Hyland of “Modern Family” suggested she was assaulted during a high school party in an emotional message she posted on Twitter Thursday.
“He was a friend. It was New Year’s Eve my senior of high school,” she wrote. “Everyone was drunk. He broke in to the bathroom I was in. I hoped it was a dream but my ripped tights in the morning proved otherwise.”
She added: “I thought no one would believe me. I didn’t want to be called dramatic. After all I didn’t say no. Shock can do that to a person.”
HuffPost reached out to representatives for Hyland, but didn’t immediately hear back.
The actress posted the tweet during Christine Blasey Ford’s nationally televised testimony Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were high school students. The actress Busy Philipps, in a post on Instagram during Blasey’s testimony, revealed that she was raped at 14.
Hyland tweeted out her statement using the hashtag #WhyIDidntReport, which sexual assault survivors began circulating last week to share their stories after President Donald Trump attacked Blasey and questioned why she didn’t come forward with her story earlier.
Hyland also added the hashtags #BelieveWomen, #MeToo and #IBelieveHer.
The actress has spoken about being in an abusive relationship before.
In a follow-up tweet, Hyland made clear that she supports the women who have come forward against Kavanaugh. In addition to Blasey, two other women ― Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick ― have accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when he was in high school or college.
“I believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. I believe Deborah Ramirez. I believe Julie Swetnick. There is no path forward for Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Hyland wrote.
Shortly before Hyland’s tweet, Philipps shared her own story of being raped at age 14.
“This is me at 14. The age I was raped. It’s taken me 25 years to say those words,” Philipps wrote Instagram. “I wrote about it in my book. I finally told my parents and sister about it 4 months ago. Today is the day we are silent no more.”
She added: “Today is the day we are silent no more. All of us. I’m scared to post this. I can’t imagine what Dr. Ford is feeling right now.”
“Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi revealed in a New York Times essay published Tuesday that she was raped at 16. She tweeted an explanation why most people don’t report being sexually assaulted.
“To people saying ‘Why didn’t he/she report it?’ When something so evil happens to you it takes a long time to process it,” she wrote. “In our victim-blaming culture it takes incredible courage to come forward. The victim is treated like the perpetrator.”