Aziz Ansari Answers Accuser: ‘I Took Her Words to Heart’
Aziz Ansari responded to a woman’s accusation that she “felt violated” during a September 2017 date with him by saying Sunday that he had taken “her words to heart.”
The actor-comedian said he believed everything that happened between him and the woman, a Brooklyn photographer who spoke with Babe.net about her accusations, had been consensual. She did not give her name in the story.
But she described a date in which she said he repeatedly pressured her for oral sex and intercourse, and at several points ignored her “clear non-verbal cues.” She said she also told him at one point: “I don’t want to feel forced because then I’ll hate you, and I’d rather not hate you.”
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His response, she said, was “Oh, of course, it’s only fun if we’re both having fun.” But he resumed pressuring her soon after, she said, until she finally left because of his aggressive behavior.
She said she texted him the day after their date: “You might have said, ‘it’s okay, only fun if we’re both enjoying it, let’s just chill’ but within moments of that your fingers were down my throat. You were putting my hand on your d— continuously. It’s like nothing changed even after I expressed that I’d like to slow down.”
“I’m so sad to hear this,” he responded in a text, according to Babe. “Clearly, I misread things in the moment and I’m truly sorry.
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He said in a statement Sunday that in the date they took part in sexual activity that by “all indications was completely consensual.”
“The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.
“I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue,” he added.
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