Days after Emma Sulkowicz brought her mattress to Columbia University's graduation ceremony, posters cropped up around New York City accusing her of lying.
According to the Huffington Post, images of the posters became widely spread about the Internet Wednesday via the @FakeRape Twitter account. The posters also accused Lena Dunham of lying about her sexual assault experience as a student of Oberlin College in Ohio.
The account also shared photos of people tearing the posters down.
Sulkowicz first gained attention for her rape claim in Sept. 2014 when she started her visual arts senior thesis project in which she vowed to carry her mattress around campus until her assailant was kicked off campus. However, Sulkowicz reported the assault in May 2014, the Columbia Spectator reported at the time.
She told police she had consensual sex with Paul Nungesser twice before the incident on the night of Aug. 27, 2012. She accused Nungesser of physically and sexually assaulting her despite her many protestations, which were both verbal and physical.
Sulkowicz told the Spectator last year she could not even tell her parents, let alone report the crime to police. After reportedly meeting two other women who accused Nungesser of rape, Sulkowicz reported her incident to Columbia University in April 2013. He was found "not responsible" for all three assaults.
About a year-and-a-half after the alleged rape, Sulkowicz went to the police. Some four months later, she began telling her story to a number of publications.
Her mattress demonstration took her all the way to graduation, where Columbia allowed her to carry it to the ceremony, but requested she leave it off the stage. She declined and carried it with her when she accepted her diploma, but Columbia President Lee Bollinger declined to shake her hand, the New York Times reported.
Sulkowicz told the HP she did not want to comment on the posters, but Columbia's communications director, Victoria Benitez, said the school was aware.
"We have no information about these posters out on Broadway," she said. "Our consistent message to our own university community has emphasized the importance of mutual respect for all graduates and their guests on these days of shared celebration."
