Lucy Hale Talks Sexual Assault and Rape in Deleted Social Media Posts

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Months after subtly mentioning a sexual assault incident, in June 2018, Lucy Hale courageously shared her personal experience during the #MeToo era in an exclusive cover story for Haute Living Los Angeles.

“I’ve experienced stuff on the small side, but assault is assault,” she explained about her experience with sexual assault, indicating she hasn’t been raped.

Lucy Hale wears a blue Anine Bing Sawyer herringbone cotton jacket with On Running Cloudswift trainersLucy Hale wears a blue Anine Bing Sawyer herringbone cotton jacket with On Running Cloudswift trainers in Los Angeles on May 21, 2023 (Credit: BG029 / BauerGriffin / INSTARimages)

While acknowledging the prevalence of such experiences, she expressed gratitude for being relatively unharmed.

“I think there are a lot of people who have been intoxicated and taken advantage of. It’s happened to me and people I know. It’s very common,” she said.

“Luckily, I’ve been unscathed; nothing’s hurt me too badly.”

Lucy Hale has joined the voices speaking out against sexual misconduct and emphasizes that assault is assault, regardless of its magnitudeLucy Hale has joined the voices speaking out against sexual misconduct and emphasizes that assault is assault, regardless of its magnitude (Credit: DFree / Shutterstock)

In January 2018, the actress referenced sexual assault in now-deleted posts on her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

“I never understood sexual assault until tonight. I always sympathized, but I never felt the pain of it until right now. My dignity and pride was broken. I am completely at a loss of words.”

Later, she clarified her post in an interview with Us Weekly, saying, “To keep it somewhat vague… I think along with a lot of other people we’ve all had our experiences like that and until it’s happened to you, you kind of don’t really understand how it can affect you and everyone around you and I just feel very honored to be around a lot of powerful women that are speaking up about it and I think that’s where the change starts is when people start talking because you never know who’s listening or whose life you can impact.”

Lucy Hale wears an Anine Bing Iscreamcolour Elton John sweatshirt with On Running Cloudswift sneakersLucy Hale wears an Anine Bing Iscreamcolour Elton John sweatshirt with On Running Cloudswift sneakers in Los Angeles on May 7, 2023 (Credit: BauerGriffin / INSTARimages)

“I feel grateful to have people that I look up to that are speaking up about things,” Hale said about women being open about rape and sexual assault in an interview with People.

“Not just women — I think men have sometimes suffered the same way that women have. And as long as a conversation is going or a conversation has started, which it has, that’s the best thing you could ever ask for because that makes people feel not alone. I think if powerful people can make a difference by speaking up, which they are, that will trickle down hopefully.”

Lucy Hale wears her dark hair down at the 2011 Teen Choice AwardsLucy Hale wears her dark hair down at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards held on August 7, 2011, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

In August 2011, the Lady Gaga-famed heel-less shoe made another red carpet appearance thanks to Lucy Hale.

Not only did the “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” actress win Choice Female Summer TV Star at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards, but she also looked incredible doing it.

Lucy Hale wears a black-and-white sequined Cengiz Abazoğlu dress on the blue carpetLucy Hale wears a black-and-white sequined Cengiz Abazoğlu dress on the blue carpet (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

Lucy started her ensemble with a masterfully cut sparkling mini dress from Turkish designer Cengiz Abazoğlu.

The black-and-white dress featured an all-over swirling sequin-and-bead design with cutouts along the chest and a mid-thigh-length hem.

Lucy Hale shows off her figure in a sequined dress from Turkish designer Cengiz AbazoğluLucy Hale shows off her figure in a sequined dress from Turkish designer Cengiz Abazoğlu (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

It showed off the actress’s figure while still looking modern and classy.

Lucy Hale sweeps her hair to the side to show off her neck tattooLucy Hale sweeps her hair to the side to show off her neck tattoo (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

She kept her accessories minimal to keep the focus on her dress.

The short actress wore dangling black earrings and a few black and silver statement rings.

Lucy Hale accessorizes with glittery nail polish and black-and-silver statement ringsLucy Hale accessorizes with glittery nail polish and black-and-silver statement rings (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

The “Pretty Little Liars” star wore her dark hair down in gentle waves, sported some black-and-silver nail polish, and wore dramatic mascara with smoky eye makeup.

Lucy Hale wears smoky eye makeup and dangling earrings at the Teen Choice AwardsLucy Hale wears smoky eye makeup and dangling earrings at the Teen Choice Awards (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

She finished her ensemble with a pair of heel-less Giuseppe Zanotti shoes.

Lucy Hale's feet in platform Giuseppe Zanotti heel-less shoesLucy Hale’s feet in platform Giuseppe Zanotti heel-less shoes (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

These patent black leather shoes feature thin ankle straps, peep toes, and platform soles.

Lucy Hale's feet in black patent Giuseppe Zanotti heel-less shoesLucy Hale’s feet in black patent Giuseppe Zanotti heel-less shoes (Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / AdMedia / WENN)

Giuseppe Zanotti had been designing more and more of his shoes with increasingly inward heels. We somehow knew that he was about to design a shoe with a heel like this, but we didn’t think he’d go THIS excessively inward!

But unlike the Thierry Mugler and Noritaka Tatehana heel-less shoes, these Giuseppe Zanotti ones lean more toward sexy rather than just plain shocking.

Would you consider these Giuseppe Zanotti peep toe platforms wearable for heel-less shoes?