A downtown Ithaca bar named in the lawsuit driving Cornell University’s sexual assault controversy is challenging the alleged victim’s claim that it served her alcohol while she was underage. The business has now made the denial part of its formal court response.
Moonies Bar & Nightclub, a venue popular with Cornell students, told Fox News that underage attendees at a private Tri Delta sorority event on Oct. 19, 2024, had an “X” placed on their hands. Guests who were at least 21 received wristbands, and the bar said its bartenders served alcohol only to those wearing them.
Both Doe’s complaint and Moonies’ account agree that she was identified as underage. The two accounts diverge, however, over whether she was served alcohol after being marked.
In her lawsuit, Doe alleges that a Moonies bouncer marked both hands of the then-20-year-old with an “X” to show she was under 21. She claims she was nevertheless served and drank at least one alcoholic beverage inside the club.
The Chi Phi fraternity house stands on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, N.Y., on Oct. 2, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
“No alcohol was served to anyone who had mark on their hands,” Moonies said in a statement to Fox News Tuesday, rejecting Doe’s allegation.
Moonies also said Doe worked for the company from February through March 2025 and spoke with staff about the October 2024 incident during that time.
The bar said Doe did not tell employees in those conversations that she had been intoxicated at Moonies or that one of its bartenders had served her alcohol.
News Media reached out to Doe’s attorney for a response to both claims made by Moonies.
In an answer filed Sunday in New York Supreme Court, Zareen Enterprises LLC, which operates as Moonies Bar & Nightclub, denied illegally selling or providing alcohol to anyone under the legal drinking age. The company also denied serving alcohol to anyone who appeared visibly intoxicated.
The filing directly rejects the portion of Doe’s complaint alleging that Moonies served her despite the underage marking on her hands. The company further denied that any action or failure to act by its employees caused the injuries she alleges.
Moonies has asked the court to dismiss all claims against the bar.
The dispute unfolds as the broader case continues to shake Cornell and attract national scrutiny. Thousands of people rallied on campus Monday, while faculty senators advanced a no-confidence resolution targeting the university’s central administration over its handling of sexual assault. Gov. Kathy Hochul has also designated the New York Attorney General’s Office as special prosecutor, with Attorney General Letitia James overseeing what she has described as an “active criminal investigation.”
Moonies said the private Tri Delta event ran from 9 to 11 p.m. and drew approximately 185 people. About 150 attendees were over 21, while 35 were underage, according to the bar.
The company said it had a contract with the sorority and used hand markings to identify underage guests, while giving wristbands to attendees who were legally permitted to drink.
Moonies described Doe’s account of being served alcohol as “completely inaccurate,” maintaining that its staff “strictly followed the rules and did not serve alcohol to any underaged guests.”
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In its legal response, Moonies raised additional defenses, arguing that Doe cannot prove the bar unlawfully sold alcohol to an underage or visibly intoxicated person or that any such sale caused her alleged injuries. The company said it complied with all laws and regulations governing alcohol service.
The disagreement addresses one portion of Doe’s account of the hours before the alleged assault, including what occurred at Moonies before she went to Chi Phi.
Doe’s lawsuit says she began drinking vodka at the Tri Delta sorority house before a housemother accompanied her to Moonies. She later went to another Ithaca bar, left by herself at about 11 p.m. and walked to the Chi Phi fraternity house, where she planned to meet a friend who belonged to the fraternity.
According to the complaint, Doe had consumed about 10 standard drinks over three hours and appeared visibly intoxicated when she arrived at Chi Phi.
Once inside, Doe alleges she was given another beer before going upstairs, where two fraternity members pressured her into snorting what they said was ketamine, a drug she says she had never previously taken. She alleges they also gave her marijuana and high-proof liquor before sexual activity began.
Doe alleges other fraternity members became involved as the night progressed and that she eventually became “completely incapacitated.” Seven former Chi Phi fraternity brothers are accused in her lawsuit of sexual assault and rape.
Students protest in Ho Plaza at Cornell University, Monday, October 5, 2026, in Ithaca, New York, in response to an alleged sexual assault in 2024. (Richard Beetham for News Media)
The men have denied wrongdoing, with some maintaining that sexual activity was consensual and others denying they participated. No criminal charges have been filed against the seven men.
The case burst into public view when Doe filed the 101-page lawsuit Sept. 16, nearly two years after the alleged encounter.
In addition to the seven former fraternity members, Doe sued Cornell University, Chi Phi and affiliated entities, her own Tri Delta sorority and Moonies, among others, alleging that institutions around her failed to protect her before, during and after the events of that night.
Students protest on Ho Plaza at Cornell University on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Ithaca, N.Y., in response to an alleged sexual assault in 2024 involving members of the Chi Phi fraternity. (Richard Beetham for News Media)
The lawsuit’s allegations prompted renewed scrutiny of the original criminal investigation.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten, who initially declined to pursue charges, has said the six-page sworn statement his office received from Cornell University Police in 2024 did not allege that Doe was drugged against her will or gang-raped and instead described her participation in drug use and sexual conduct as “voluntary, conscious, and consensual.”
A fuller transcript of Doe’s November 2024 police interviews later obtained by CBS New York included statements in which she distinguished the initial sexual encounter from later activity and explicitly told investigators she had been raped.
Van Houten said his office had never received that transcript.