26-year-old actor Ansel Elgort, known for his roles in The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent, as well as his sometimes-racy Instagram feed, has denied accusations of sexual assault leveled against him by a former girlfriend.
The woman in question, identified only as “Gabby,” claims the assault took place when she was 17 and Elgort was 21. The pair met when Gabby direct messaged Elgort on social media, who provided her with his Snapchat handle. He then began asking for nude photos and proposed the pair have a threesome with one of her friends.
According to Gabby, when she did eventually meet up with Elgort, he pressured her into having sex. She also claims she was a virgin at the time. Gabby says she found the encounter extremely painful–enough to start her sobbing. She claims Elgort assured her “we need to break you in.” She also says the encounter left her with anxiety and panic attacks. “It’s a lot for me to post this but I think it’s time,” she wrote. “I finally talk about my story of me being sexually assaulted. I need to heal and I want others to know they’re not alone.”
Related: Ansel Elgort’s pic deleted for violating nudity rule, but the internet remembers forever
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Gabby posted her story to Twitter before deleting her account. When pressured by the media, Elgort released a statement via Instagram. “I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened,” he wrote in the post. “I have never and would never assault anyone.”
Elgort acknowledges what he characterizes as a “brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship” with Gabby in 2014. He also admits “unfortunately I did not handle the breakup well” and “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,” Elgort concludes.
Elgort will next appear in West Side Story for director Steven Spielberg.
Vince
Nearly 80% of the guys out there would be in prison right now if just pressuring somebody into sex was a crime. Lol
Godabed
Pressuring or coercing someone to have sex is not okay and depending on the circumstances is very much a crime.
That being said, I believe part of her story and part of his story. I believe from their statements that he was an immature little boy who coerced her into having sex and losing her virginity to him, and when he got it, he stopped talking to her. That much from both of their statements I think is true. Whether he sexually assaulted her I don’t know.
Chrisk
Godabed
He used her a a pump and dump as many guys will do. She never once said no though. She thought she was going to be his new sqeeze. Nope. Lol
Nothing like a little online revenge from a scorned women.
LumpyPillows
@Godabed I’m 99% confident he did not have to coerce her one bit. She had a shot to sex a hot movie star, and I don’t think anyone could have stopped her. It just did not turn out how she liked it and now she is a victim too. Its the monster they’ve created.
Vince
He should have taken more care though. He’s reportedly hung really huge and her being a virgin and all.
Prax07
I don’t believe her at all. Men can’t sneeze in a woman’s general direction today without them claiming sexual misconduct.
dhmonarch89
did she ever say NO or Stop? People aren’t mind readers.
spacecadet
Um, she was sobbing in pain. Do you have to be a “mind reader” to know that means stop? You would keep going because you didn’t actually hear the word “no?”
Donston
I’m not going to form any opinions. I wasn’t there, and this is one accusation. I will say that she was underage, and he was already in the business. So, he should have known that was gonna be a bad look by itself. While whatever interests I might have eventually developed towards Ansel lost all its potential once he was asked about the Kevin Spacey accusations and he was dismissive towards them.
Dymension
I find that the fact that she deleted her account immediately after making that accusation makes her a little suspect.
spacecadet
It’s not suspicious at all. Like most people who claim they’ve been raped or sexually assaulted by someone famous and adored, they are almost immediately attacked and ridiculed online, to say nothing of receiving death threats. Quite sensible then to not have to subject oneself to that kind of hate en masse from complete strangers.
LumpyPillows
Absolutely no indication of a crime. She didn’t get what she wanted, now she wants to ruin his career. Women lie, just like men, and some women are vindictive, self-absorbed nightmares, Karen. I said when all this started that it would turn into a mess and every straight man would have a target on his head for every crazed, bitter woman to take shots at. No, I do not believe women. I believe facts. She regrets what she did. While I feel a bit of sorrow for her screwing up, I know for a fact she was more than willing to sex a movie star and no one could have stopped her 17 year old self from doing it.
JesterKing
So I’m a pretty liberal person, 100% support believing and investigating women’s accusations, but we are getting to a dangerous place where anyone can tweet an accusation and we have to immediately cancel someone. I’m sure Ansel did want to have sex with the girl and her being so young probably wasn’t sure how to navigate the situation and eventually felt used. We are seeing how people are weaponizing the MeToo movement (e.g the right wing trolls who were paying women to say Dr. Fauci raped them just so he can stop contradicting Trump). I know there is still a lot of work to do to combat rape culture but a tweet shouldn’t end someone’s career.
LumpyPillows
I agree. While the movement did target abusive male behavior, I think most of us knew it would get skewed into something almost as bad as what it was trying to address. Simplistic, moralistic tropes almost always miss the mark and become abused. Women use sex to get that they want. They manipulate men with it. It is the other half of the abusive male behavior the entire #Metoo cult ignores. This is why it is dangerous and undermines everything it initially and correctly tried to do.
skeldare
Wait, why is this news story on Queerty? He’s not LGBT and this news isn’t related to anything LGBT at all…
ScottOnEarth
Probably because a lot of guys think he’s hot. It’s gay-related. Get it?
ScottOnEarth
Guilty or not, it’s scary what one, pseudo-anonymous accusation, without any proof, can do to someone’s reputation and career. Her childish, rambling tweet doesn’t seem at all believable, as written, but it’s not my call to make.
Polaro
Losing your virginity hurts. Don’t they teach these kids anything? Saying no is something I’m sure they teach. Shame she didn’t say it. Life sucks. It’s full of discomfort and challenge. So many of you are doomed and your bitterness will plague us all. Tired of the whining.
Toofie
A poor sexual experience doesn’t mean it’s sexual assault.
RyanMBecker
I have a lot of problems with her actions, and see her as nothing more than a vengeful scorned publicity seeker. If she merely wanted to heal, or help others as she claims, there was no need to name names or post photos. It’s not like he has a reputation for disrespecting women. She got her revenge then deleted her account when people wanted more information. That says it all.
Rock-N-RollHS
Some girls have all the luck.
kevininbuffalo
A woman scorned, move on.