A woman has accused Ansel Elgort of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenage girl
Trigger warning: This post discusses sexual assault.
On Friday, June 19th, a Twitter user who goes by Gabby released a statement accusing Ansel Elgort of sexual assault. Gabby, who said she was 17 at the time of the alleged 2014 assault, said her experience with the then-21-year-old actor has resulted in a PTSD diagnosis, and she now seeks therapy to deal with the trauma.
In her since-deleted tweet, captured by Deadline, Gabby said that her relationship with Elgort began after she sent him a direct message shortly before her 17th birthday. Elgort allegedly gave Gabby his private Snapchat account info, and she claims that he requested explicit photos from her. Gabby posted screenshots of both her DMs with Elgort as well as a selfie of the pair together. Gabby detailed her alleged sexual assault in a since-deleted tweet, saying that she disassociated while it was happening.
“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,’” Gabby wrote in her statement, re-posted by another Twitter user below.
Tweet 1 of evidence. #anselelgort pic.twitter.com/IuPBWyHCgU
— Davina (@lvbarsandmelody) June 20, 2020
Her story quickly went viral over the weekend, and Gabby deleted her Twitter account. Soon after, Elgort released a response on Instagram and, though he apologized, he claimed that his relationship with Gabby was consensual and legal because 17 is the age of consent in New York.
“I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened,” the Baby Driver actor wrote. “I have never and would never assault anyone.”
Elgort claims that he did not handle the “breakup” well and ghosted her, “which is an immature and cruel thing to do to someone,” he wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBrc56ABpWn
Many on Twitter are unhappy with Elgort’s apology, claiming it skirts around the main accusation of him grooming and assaulting a young girl.
If you are a sexual assault survivor and need help, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 to speak to a trained counselor. You can also chat online with a counselor here. Both services are available 24/7.