Ansel Elgort has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in 2014.
Earlier this week, a Twitter user named Gabby accused the actor of assaulting her when she was 17 years old. Gabby claimed Elgort, who was 20 years old at the time, initially solicited nude photos from her via social media. They later met in person and had sex. However, after Gabby asked to stop, she said Elgort ignored her.
“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.’ I WASNT there in that moment mentally. I dissociated myself and just felt like my mind was gone and I was in shock,” Gabby wrote. “I couldn’t leave, I was only 5’2″ and 98 pounds.”
In a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday, Elgort acknowledged having a relationship with Gabby, but denied ever assaulting her. “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 wrote.
“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.”
Elgort, best known for roles including Baby Driver, The Divergent series, and The Fault in Our Stars, is next set to star in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
