Ansel Elgort has spoken out on social media, after being accused of sexual assault. A Twitter user who goes by the name of Gabby wrote to her followers that the 26-year-old actor “sexually assaulted me when I was 17. I had DMed him on when it was two days before my 17th birthday and I got his private Snapchat. I didn't think he'd ever see my DM. I was just a kid and was a fan of him.”
Her profile has been set to private now.
According to reports, she added: “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.' I WASN'T there in that moment mentally. I disassociated myself and just felt like my mind was gone. I was in shock. I couldn't leave. I was only 5'2 and 98 pounds. He made me think this is how sex was supposed to be. I WAS SO YOUNG AND HE KNEW THAT.”
She also claimed that Elgort, known for roles in Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars, “asked to have a threesome with me and one of my 'dance friends. They were as well underage and I didn't tell anyone because he said it could ‘ruin his career.' I sat there for months wondering what I did wrong. Wondering why I felt so used,” she alleged. “Years later, I have PTSD, I have panic attacks, I go to therapy. Finally I'm ready to talk about it and finally heal.”
On Saturday, Elgort wrote 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 depiction of events is simply not what happened,” he explained. “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. Unfortunately, I did not handle the breakup well.”
Elgort added that he “stopped responding to her, which is an immature and cruel thing to do to someone” and that he knows “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.”
