Ansel Elgort Denies Sexual Assault Allegations Leveled On Social Media

Actor Ansel Elgort denied sexual assault allegations that were made over the weekend by a woman named Gabby on social media.

After being accused of raping the woman, Elgort stated on Instagram, “I was distressed to see the social media posts about me that have been circulating in the past 24 hours. I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened. I have never and would never assault anyone.”

He later stated, “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. 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.” 

Gabby took to Twitter on Friday to explain how her and Elgort had met through social media and wrote in a since deleted tweet, “I was sexually assaulted a couple of days after I turned 17. I was only f—ing 17 and he was in his 20s. He knew what he was doing.”

She went on to say, “So when it happened, instead of asking me if I wanted to stop having sex knowing it was my first time and I was sobbing in pain and I didn’t want to do it. The only words that came out of his mouth were, ‘We need to break you in.'”

Twitter account @PopCrave had posted screenshots of Gabby’s statement. As her claim started to go viral, controversy over whether Gabby’s allegations were true started to arise.

One user said, “That is the most photoshopped Snapchat conversation I’ve ever seen in my life.” 

The legal age of consent in the state of New York is 17. Other alleged victims of Elgort have come forward after Gabby, but Elgort has not responded to any other claims.