Ansel Elgort’s denial that he had non-consensual sex with an underage girl caused an avalanche of reactions from fans Saturday night, who either questioned the sincerity of his statement or his accuser’s truthfulness.
“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 said in an Instagram post. He went on to say, “As I look back at my attitude, I am disgusted and ashamed of the way I acted. I am truly sorry. I know I must continue to reflect, learn and work to grow in empathy.”
Reactions poured in fast with commenters voicing strong opinions on both sides.
“Perhaps it isn’t what happened in your eyes, but if this is how it felt to her, it’s time to address the way you view sex,” a user named quarantined_chucky wrote. “She was 17, you haven’t provided any evidence to the contrary. We all want to believe that this is a misunderstanding but even if it is a misunderstanding there are still apologies to be made to Gabby directly and explanations to be made as to why she’s saying she was barely 17 at the time, you know?”
“Literally the worst possible response to this. hope you at least personally apologized to her.” Sshannonwilliams wrote.
JLsmits wrote, “This isn’t even an apology. You’re discrediting her, giving excuses, and apologizing for the excuse you gave.”
While _.cullen._ said, “The fact he’s gonna get away with it is disgusting.”
But others question the motive of the girl, only know as Gabby.
“I think most of your fans realized this is some bulls—. sorry you had to go through this,” carlos_the_barricuda wrote on responded.
Angelinayoujennifer wrote, “She looked pretty comfortable on those pics. She’s just a attention (sic) seeker.”
And _alternative_account__ wrote simply, “there’s no proof.”
On Friday, a woman named Gabby, who did not reveal her last name, tweeted a statement that said the actor, now 26, sexually assaulted her in 2014 when she was 17. Gabby described sobbing and being in pain and said, “I didn’t want to do it the only words that came out of his mouth were ‘we need to break you in.’”
After being attacked by Elgort fans, she deleted her social media accounts.
“West Side Story,” in which Elgort plays the starring role of Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria, is one of Disney’s major planned releases for the holiday season and is slated for a Dec. 18 wide release. Disney did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.