Warning: This article contains explicit language and may be triggering for some readers. Please read at your own discretion.
Actor Ansel Elgort has denied accusations from a woman on Twitter who claims he sexually assaulted her in 2014 when she was 17 years old.
The young woman, identified only as Gabby, detailed her experience with Elgort in a since-deleted tweet on Friday, saying she connected with him via social media five years ago.
“I was sexually assaulted a couple of days after I turned 17,” she tweeted, according to screenshots obtained by PopCrave. “I was only f—ing 17 and he was in his 20s. He knew what he was doing.”
Elgort took to Instagram to release a statement after the social media posts circulated online.
“I was distressed to see the social media posts about me that have been circulating in the past 24 hours,” Elgort wrote on Instagram.
“I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened,” he wrote on Saturday. “I have never and would never assault anyone. 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.” (The legal age of consent in New York is 17.)
He continued: “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 behaviour 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,” Elgort concluded.
Gabby deleted her Twitter account after her tweets began to circulate online, but she had previously shared a screenshot of a Snapchat direct message from 2014.
She wrote that she sent Elgort a direct message and got his private Snapchat account when she was “just a kid and was a fan of him.”
Gabby said she didn’t expect a response from the Billionaire Boys Club actor.
“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,’” she wrote on Twitter.
“I WASN’T there in that moment mentally. I disassociated myself and just felt like my mind was gone I was in shock.”
She said Elgort was in his 20s at the time and shared a photo that appeared to show the two of them together, with her hand partially covering her face.
“I couldn’t leave I was only 5’2 and 98 pounds,” @ItsGabby wrote in the Twitter post. “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 also alleged that the now-26-year-old actor asked her for nude photos and to have a threesome with her and one of her “dance friends,” who was also underage.
Gabby said she was told not to tell anyone because it could “ruin his career,” and she claims she has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks since the alleged assault.
“Finally I’m ready to talk about it and finally heal,” she added to her post. “I just want to heal and I want to tell other girls who have been through the same s–t as me, you’re not alone.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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