June 21, 2020
Actor Ansel Elgort Denies Sexual Assault Allegations in New Instagram Post
READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Actor Ansel Elgort responded to a woman who tweeted Friday that he sexually assaulted her in 2014 when she was 17 and when he was 20, denying her account of the alleged incident, "The actor, now 26, denied assaulting the woman, whom he called Gabby and who shared her accusations from the Twitter account @Itsgabby on Friday," writes BuzzFeed.
"I was distressed to see the social media posts about me that have been circulating in the past 24 hours," Elgort wrote to his 10 million Instagram followers late Saturday. "I cannot claim to understand Gabby" s="" feelings="" but="" her="" description="" of="" events="" is="" simply="" not="" what="" happened.
"What is true is that in New York in 2014, when I was 20, Gabby and I had a brief, legal, and entirely consensual relationship. Unfortunately, I did not handle the breakup well. I stopped responding to her, which is an immature and cruel thing to do to someone. I know this belated apology does not absolve me of my unacceptable behavior when I disappeared," he continued. "As I look back at my attitude, I am disgusted and deeply ashamed of the way I acted. I am truly sorry. I know I must continue to reflect, learn, and work to grow in empathy."
"Elgort's specification that the two had a "relationship" in New York may be viewed as an effort to highlight the fact that the legal age of consent in the state is 17,"
Read Elgort's Instagram post:
Gabby's accusation was made on Twitter (under the handle @Itsgabby) on Friday with the caption "my story of Ansel Elgort."
She has since deleted her social media accounts.
In her original post she says she was "sexually assaulted a couple days after I turned 17,'"reports Variety. "She wrote that she DMed Elgort and got his private Snapchat account, when she was 'just a kid and was a fan of him,' and she didn't expect a response."
She claims Elgort responded with nude pics of himself.
"She said Elgort was in his 20s at the time and, although it's unclear exactly when the alleged assault took place, Snapchat DMs @Itsgabby posted that are apparently from Elgort are dated for 2014. She also posted a photo allegedly of her and Elgort, with her face partially obscured by her own hand," Variety writes.
In her account of her meet-up with Elgort, she said "she was sobbing in pain and didn't want to do it," to which the actor allegedly replied, "we need to break you in."
"I WASN'T there in that moment mentally. I disassociated myself and just felt like my mind was gone I was in shock," Gabby wrote. "Years later, I have PTSD, I have panic attacks I go to therapy."
"He made me think this is how sex was supposed to be. I WAS SO YOUNG AND HE KNEW THAT. He as well said stuff like, 'you're going to be such a beautiful young lady when you're older." I was f–ing 17," she said in her statement.
"Gabby's openness encouraged other alleged victims of Elgort's to share their experiences on social media. The 'Baby Driver' star did not address any of the other allegations in his statement," Entertainment Weekly reports.
Elgort is one of Hollywood's leading young actors and is starring in the upcoming Stephen Spielberg-Tony Kushner remake of "West Side Story," due out at Christmas. He is also scheduled to appear in HBO Max's series "Tokyo Vice," and recently appeared in film "The Goldfinch."
