Ed Westwick has been cut from new Agatha Christie TV drama Ordeal By Innocence following allegations of rape.
The three-part BBC series was yanked from the Christmas schedule in November (17), as the former Gossip Girl star fought claims he sexually assaulted three women at his home in California – and now his scenes will be reshot with Christian Cooke portraying Mickey Argyll, according to The Sun.
Westwick’s undoing began when he was accused of raping actress Kristina Cohen. He denied the allegation in an Instagram post, writing: “I do not know this woman. I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape.”
A second actress, Aurelie Wynn, then came forward and claimed she had turned video evidence of her encounter with the actor over to the Los Angeles Police Department. A third accuser has also accused Westwick of sexual assault.
The actor returned to social media to deny the claims, writing: “It is disheartening and sad to me that as a result of two unverified and provably untrue social media claims, there are some in this environment who could ever conclude I had anything to do with such vile and horrific conduct. I have absolutely not, and I am cooperating with the authorities so that they can clear my name as soon as possible.”
Westwick’s ex-girlfriend Jessica Szohr came to his defense, accusing the three women of “stretching the truth”.
“I have known Ed for years and know how lovely he is, and don’t think he would ever put someone in a position like that,” Szohr told Cosmopolitan. “It’s difficult, because you don’t want someone you know to go through that or do that to someone.”
The Ordeal By Innocence reshoots will take place later this month (Jan18) in Scotland.
The news comes just over a week after the release of Ridley Scott’s new movie All The Money In The World, which had to be reworked at the end of November after the filmmaker opted to cut Kevin Spacey from the project following claims of sexual misconduct against the actor.
Scenes were refilmed with Christopher Plummer as billionaire J. Paul Getty and the movie was released three days behind schedule on 25 December (17).
