As the cast and crew (with one notable exception–more on that in a moment) of West Side Story continue to promote the film and push for awards nominations, three of the movie’s stars have weighed in on the sexual assault allegations made against their co-star, Ansel Elgort.
Related: Ansel Elgort’s pic deleted for violating nudity rule, but the internet remembers forever
The accusations first arose in June 2020, after filming was complete, when a woman identified as “Gabby” on social media accused the actor of having a sexual relationship with her when she was 17 and he was 20.
Gabby recalled an uncomfortable sexual encounter with Elgort, in which she claimed she lost her virginity. She also alleged that he asked her for nude photos and to have a threesome.
Elgort denied the allegations on social media, saying the pair had a “brief, legal and entirely consensual.” He also admitted that he “did not handle the breakup well” and eventually ghosted the teenager.
Both posts from Gabby and Elgort have since been deleted.
This week, Rita Moreno, Rachel Zegler, and Ariana DeBose participated in a story on Latina women in Hollywood for The Hollywood Reporter. When asked about the allegations against Elgort, all three women didn’t hesitate to answer.
Their answers, however, left many scratching their heads.
“We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then,” Zegler said of Elgort, who plays her love interest.
She continued, “A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. There’s been a lot of awakening. You just hope that the people involved are OK, that they are asked in a respectful manner, and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves.”
Related: Did Rachel Zegler just kill her Oscar chances by mocking Britney Spears?
“Nobody really knows what’s going on in anyone’s head,” DeBose added. “Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down.”
But perhaps most surprisingly, and the most disappointing, response came from Moreno, herself a survivor of sexual assault.
“I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter,” she said. “It’s not for me to make those judgments.”
Ansel Elgort has largely avoided doing press for West Side Story despite playing the lead in the film. Director Steven Speilberg has also refused to comment on the allegations against the star.
True to form, Twitter weighed in with both supporters and detractors gunning for Elgort and his co-stars…
tw / rape mention
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honestly, i think i preferred it when y’all were mum on the topic of ansel elgort cause this is bad. like the first time yall directly address ansel elgort being a rapist and it gets brushed away as “no one really knows what happened” + “wrong to take sides”? https://t.co/sEUiHYdRyt pic.twitter.com/z09ZXruzGG— sk (@kirkxxs) January 26, 2022
cw // ansel elgort
why does rita defend ansel more than she defends natalie wood I actually hate it here
— chino's lawyer (@sayitsoft) January 26, 2022
THREE FUCKING WOMEN sit there and defend rat ass ansel elgort rather than the victims??? wowwww https://t.co/4PLgR1arrr
— nora ? catrry is real (@poIaroidrry) January 26, 2022
Ansel Elgort sucks, but stop acting like they knew he was a abuser when they cast him pic.twitter.com/tQ9gjEd0Df
— Marcy Webb (@asexualflower) January 3, 2022
its actually so so funny how award ceremonies are nominating every leading cast member in west side story except for ansel elgort ?
— eli (@inccptions) January 12, 2022
so rachel zegler, ariana debose and rita moreno just defended ansel elgort from all his rape and harassment allegations and y'all are going to pretend nothing happened????? pic.twitter.com/XFhuCxGbKf
— mei ?? (@brooklyntveit) January 26, 2022
insane ppl twitter: rachel zegler was in a movie with ansel elgort before allegations against him came out therefore she supports s*xual assault!
rachel zegler in actuality: pic.twitter.com/5qItFHSjny
— arielle 🙂 (@sapphicdyad) January 24, 2022
kate mckinnon is a better tony than ansel elgort lets discuss it
— el ? (@folkloredaya) January 16, 2022
alexpof
they gave the correct answears, they dont know what happened.. allegations are not facts, everybody can allege
throwslikeagirl
I agree completely.
dinard38
Exactly. I don’t see anything wrong in their responses. None at all. We’ve gotten to the point where a man is convicted of sexual assault in the court of public opinion just by being accused. Just because her first time having sex was uncomfortable, that is not a sexual assault. Nor is asking for nudes or a threesome. And if anyone argues about the age, they were only 3 years apart and the age of consent is 16/17 in 39 of 50 states.
This just sounds like she is still bitter because he broke up with her badly and wants to ruin his career. She knows that all she had to do was post this online and the social Justice warriors would take it from there. Why bring this up now? Something that happened 7 years ago??
I’ve just had it with all of these fake sexual assaults when there are many out there truly being assaulted.
bluwizard
@dinard38 The woman claims to need therapy and have PTSD over this “uncomfortable” experience so if its all true but you don’t consider it sexual assault maybe he should genuinely apologize for putting her through that. I think he denied it for a strategic reason.
You men are so misogynistic its actually so vile to read. Why bring it up after 7 years? Because it takes a long time for people to open up about trauma. People repress trauma for years. Rita Moreno literally talked about getting sexually assaulted as a young actress. That was years later, she hasn’t pressed charges against the man… so what is the difference here?
Still being bitter over some weirdo actor hitting on her while she was in high school and taking advantage of her sounds more realistic than being stuck on a break-up from a decade ago.
DrJohn
his tensions must be really high by now. send him my way.
Urban Geezer
Once again the social media pile on. OK so a year or two ago there was someone who made an allegation that Egort had taken her virginity in some way which SHE deemed abusive. Egort gave his side of the story. There was the typical rush to judgement pile on and it was kind of forgotten until social media raised the issue again because a lot of people thrive on and feel more alive with righteous indignation over just about anything that social media allows. Were criminal charges brought? No. Was there a civil suit? No. I believe women should be heard. But because someone brings an allegation does not immediately make it true. That’s why we have courts and a free press. But social media thrives on this sort of thing and as a result we have a fiercely divided country where people can no longer feel free to express a different opinion from their neighbors without fear of retribution,. Pretty sad really.
BLAKENOW
Amen to that , very well said. and Queerty you can put down the spoon you are always using stirring up baseless crap just because you somehow get off trying to tear someone successful down and ruin any actor’s career. This Moral policing from sometimes Amoral people needs to just stop.
dave22
I agree completely. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. You have sex with someone, don’t report it, don’t bring criminal or civil charges and then all of a sudden as soon as someone becomes famous there it is defamation of character. That’s not saying nothing happened but there’s always two sides to every story. An allegation does not make something true. It seems like this issue has taken on a new life of its own where there are honest people and there are dishonest people who just want somehow to have their moment of fame no matter what the cost to someone else. If its true there should be a punishment I definitely agree, but if there’s no truth to the matter, then the accuser needs to make retribution both publicly and financially to the accused. Lets all show some fairness and dignity in today’s society.
dinard38
Very well stated. I agree with you 100%.
I think a lot of this stems from the ridiculous notion that “all women are to be believed” when it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct. NO! NO! And HELL TO THE NO!!!! All women should be heard, but not automatically believed simply because they make an accusation. Women lie and misconstrue facts. Our justice system doesn’t convict someone based on allegation. Those allegations have to be proved. So no, we shouldn’t just automatically believe a woman that alleged sexual assault.
eireapparent
Amazing to see the witch hunt mentality at work. One only need to point and say rape and you’re instantly guilty. Then if you say the safe, sane thing like: we don’t know what happened, you’re accused of siding with the rapist. But damn if this world isn’t broken to the core. Spielberg should have filmed the crucible instead.
inbama
Women dog-piling on accused men on Twitter is proof of nothing.
esrosejr
So after years….well, a long while, allegations are made. Press is stirred. People who know nothing and were not there comment prolifically. Pots are stirred. A guy has to face allegations made by someone in his past. Is anyone old enough to remember the movie mags of the forties and fifties? Same thing. Lurid headlines. All to salve the fantasies of fans. Get it “fan-tasies”. I managed the huge magazine displays for a drug store chain and this stuff sure sold the pulp. As a gay man, I have some idea about how this can hurt people. But there is a price for stardom and he is paying it…true or false. The American story. Build them up, tear them down.
cuteguy
They should’ve been media trained not to give a comment and go on to the next question bc ANYTHING they would’ve said would’ve been dissected and torn apart. I’m still a fan of Ariana and she’s a great representation of LGBTQ+ and I truly hope this doesn’t hamper her chances of a well deserved Oscar. The 3 leads of And Just Like That had a similar experience with having to respond bc of Chris Noth and they all cut and pasted a prepared response on their respective social media, a response that was written by a publicist and that was that
BigJohnSF
A 20 year old man had consensual sex with a 17 year old woman. Then he breaks up with her. She decides it was rape. C’mon.
Mister P
A hot 20 year old at that.
Kangol2
Irrespective of these three women’s poor response, is Elgort admitting he had sex with this woman? When they had sex was she considered under age and was he the same age or not? “Bad breakup” or not, if he was older and having sex with a young woman considered underage at the time, that is a problem, and not just in terms of appearances. Just saying it was a “brief, legal and entirely consensual [sic]” doesn’t really cut it under the circumstances.
LumpyPillows
Where did you come up with the underage line? Facts matter. There is nothing here except a bitter woman.
dinard38
As far as the legality, in 39 of 50 states the age of consent is 16/17. Even if they were in one of the 11 states where the legal age is 18, I doubt that they would bother trying to prosecute this young man.
This is about nothing other than her being bitter about the way he broke up with her and trying to ruin his career. Also, there was nothing wrong these women’s statements. The bottom line was that they weren’t taking sides about something they didn’t know of.
missvamp
in most states 17 is legal age of consent. it’s not rape, much less statutory. it’s consensual sex. yeah he ghosted her, which is shitty, but who cares. it doesn’t make him a predator or a rapist. omfg- leave the guy alone. ugh
IanHunter
Can we please quit with making accusations that are years old? It just shows that someone gets angry and tries to destroy someone’s life and career. It makes it difficult to know who really a valid reason has to make a claim of sexual assault.
Jon in Canada
This is what happens when a well intentioned movement is weaponized. MeToo was about putting men on notice (rightfully so) and holding them to account. What’s happening here smells nothing like that, if anything, it has the whiff of someone trying to score some Benjamins. Sorry, but this supposedly happened at the height of MeToo yet she waited? Not buying it. Add to that, he was three years older and she wasn’t even a year short of 18; which means that, in most states, this dalliance wasn’t illegal. And there’s more, her story doesn’t ring true given it was, both parties admit, a brief fling. Translation: she went into it with eyes wide open. Like I said, it does not pass the sniff test.
bluwizard
Give me a break. This happened in 2014 before MeToo was a thing. If she wanted some money, she would have ran to media outlets and opened a civil suit against him to take his money, instead she posted it on Twitter and dipped. He admitted to most of the story youre deeming as not passing the sniff test, multiple girls came forward about predatory behavior as well. Just because something isnt illegal (borderline, she was a day over 17) doesn’t make it right or okay to do. Im sure this is a difficult concept to grasp for humans but.. yea.
Sounds like she messaged him, he responded with the intention of hooking up, she was starstruck and went along with it. Ignorant of her? Yes, she was a child, But he knew exactly what he was doing here. If she wanted to make up some false story she would have said somrthing more dramatic than He took my virginity and it hurt.
LumpyPillows
Jon has it right. You try telling a 17 year old what to do. She knew what she was doing. It was legal. She was not forced. It just did not go the way she wanted. Bad relationships or sex is not a crime. Cancel culture got out of control a long time ago.
bluwizard
Gay men going off on misogynistic rants in defense of some twink they want to bang? Im shocked. Never would have guessed that.
Listen if her allegation is false or true there is no way to prove it on either sides, but we do know Mr Elgort was giving his private account to teenage girls. If you read the womans post he is admitting to all of it accept the part that seems unconsensual. He avoided addressing any of the complaints she made about her age and used the “ghosting” excuse to apologize for something without taking accountability for anything. Classic. People are dog piling him because his response literally reads as guilt. Anyone with a brain can come to that conclusion after looking at both statements.
17 may be legal in New York but she was still a minor. Its illegal in my state where the age of consent is 18, so yes people are going to find that morally wrong. Lets not forget this girl was still 16 when he first started messaging her since she claims it was days before her 17th birthday if her story is accurate.
There have been several other women who have made claims about Elgorts creepy and predatory behavior from his secret account, one of them was just allegedly 15 years old at the time, and these girls had some evidence to back their claims.
Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t always work outside of a courtroom, now if he was currently on trial, that would be a good argument to use. But he isn’t. She most likely didnt report the situation because she was a minor at the time, he was a big celebrity, and he told her not to tell. She knew the guy personally so it’s difficult for victims to do. He was also the “it” boy at the time with the fault in our stars out and MeToo wasn’t a thing in Hollywood yet. She was a regular girl and probably scared to try and press charges against someone with that power, she probably was even too scared to tell her parents she had sex. Put yourself in her shoes before blindly defending some guy who you don’t know and will never know, and that gives teenage girls private snapchats.
Jon in Canada
Sure Klan.
bluwizard
@Jon In Canada I have a straight face. Critical thinking, empathy, and living without deep rooted misogyny will get you to better places! Im sure of it!
Defending some millionaire dude who clearly has a thing for teenagers because hes generally attractive… just yikes.
iminheatlikeacat
“17 may be legal in New York but she was still a minor. Its illegal in my state where the age of consent is 18, so yes people are going to find that morally wrong. Lets not forget this girl was still 16 when he first started messaging her since she claims it was days before her 17th birthday if her story is accurate.”
This makes ZERO sense. “Well, it’s legal where she lives but it’s not legal where I live so that makes it morally wrong”. HUH? It’s legal to drink here at 18 but that doesn’t mean a 19 year old Brit can travel to any American state and say “well, the law may be 21 here but where I’m from it’s 18 so even though you’re arresting me for underage drinking, morally, I’m in the right”.
inbama
Slandering anyone who questions the allegations as wanting to sleep with Elgort reeks of homosexual self-hatred.
LeBlevsez
inbama – You missed or chose to ignore the posts by DrJohn and Mister P, both of whom professed sexual attraction to Elgort. No slander here. No “homosexual self-hatred” either. More than a dash of misogyny in some of the posts though.
LumpyPillows
blu, you know nothing about the situation – you weren’t there. No crimes were committed. Your need to cancel this guy over your issues is troubling.
DarkZephyr
You have “empathy”? Then why are you ready to crucify this kid when you weren’t there yourself? You don’t know what really happened.
bluwizard
@DarkZephyr Did you not read what I said? The part where he was allegedly using a private snapchat account to hit on teenagers? And women as young as 15 at the time have come forward with evidence? Or the fact that he partially admitted to her post and didn’t apologize for what admitted to?
Maybe thats why Im ready to crucify.
Saps48
Why in the world would Moreno’s response be “most surprising, and the most disappointing.” She wasn’t there and she didn’t know what happened, and she said so. Seems reasonable to me.
Paulie P
remember that indian comic who had consensual sex with a woman and after she claimed it was an assault but in the end she admitted it was just a bad date…….yeah, too quick to judge these days. no one knows what happened but a 17 year old and a 20 year old dating is not uncommon. things took a turn so it make soon wonder.
LeBlevsez
“{T}hat indian (sic) comic” is Aziz Ansari, who was born in South Carolina, right here in the USA. The woman involved never accused Ansari of assault, just posted about a bad date that included bad sex. Ansari owned his presupposition that because he payed for dinner he should be rewarded. Public embarrassment ensued, and according to his own account he learned a lesson. Good on him. Maybe you could learn from his example.
LumpyPillows
LeB, what people like you did to Aziz, who did nothing wrong, should be a crime. He needed to apologize for nothing. Women need to own their decisions when they don’t turn out as their dreams envisioned. They also need to say no and not complain that men should have known they wnated to say no. Serously.
dinard38
@LumpyPillows I totally agree with you. Anziz had nothing to apologize for. If you read her account, she made some stupid statement that she didn’t really want to have sex but she didn’t say no. She felt that he should have noticed her body language, or some total BS like that. Then she puts this out on social media. She embarrassed the man, but to me she’s the one who came out looking stupid. How do you let someone have sex with you when you’re not feeling it, then basically claim that he should have read your mind. Nah, bitch! Open your mouth and say no!! Jeez!!!
LeBlevsez
Lumpy – As usual, you came in swinging with Nerf noodles. I did nothing to Aziz Ansari. I was taking issue with a problematic post. Ansari was referred to as “that indian comic”, an appellation he has rightly railed against in his stand-up. The reason I mentioned “South Carolina, right here in the USA” is because he has done so. The issue of the obviously lousy date would be nothing more than pitiable if it weren’t indicative of greater gender and sex power dynamics as they exist in the world. The woman involved never accused Ansari of assault, because no assault occurred. She reluctantly relented to his advances. He took advantage but committed no assault. He acknowledged that in the moment he understood what happened. He apologized, showing more understanding of the aforementioned power dynamics than you’re willing to. So I’ll repeat: Good on him. Maybe you could learn from his example.
Karlis
None of the people who have gone hysterical about this on Twitter were in the room with Mr. Elgort when whatever happened happened. Moreno was entirely right in saying that she had no right to pass judgment on it. Neither does anybody else.
canadiankid
20 and 17 is not a large age gap. I hate these almost legal minors trying to play victim when a relationship doesn’t workout how they expected. I’m sure she flirted, she felt lust and desire, they had fun, things didn’t work out and now in hindsight she feels she was abused or taken advantage of. It’s not fair. She was a willing participant in the sexual activities and romance. Teenagers can be just as sneaky and manipulative as any adult, I was one, so I take these allegations with a grain of salt. Let’s see the texts and DM’s that show some force and manipulation.
Mr. Stadnick
Irresponsible gossip mongering poorly written website will publish anything to stir up readers. Such crap!
jackscott
Unless you were in the room where it supposedly happened, you just don’t know. Plus, social medial isn’t the place to hear this case. If there was truly a law broken the woman should bring it to a courtroom!
bluwizard
Clearly none of you have experienced this first hand. Its not as simple as “bringing it to a courtroom” in her position. You know the courtroom is notorious for giving sexual abusers a pass right?