Comedian/actor Joel McHale is defending Aziz Ansari against sexual assault claims, insisting the alleged incident sounds more like a “bad date”.
A New York photographer, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has alleged she met Ansari at an Emmys after-party in 2017 and the two eventually went on a date, which she referred to as “the worst night of my life”. The woman claimed she and Ansari became physical at his apartment and though she expressed that she was uncomfortable, the star continued to pressure her into sexual acts.
“He sat back and pointed to his penis and motioned for me to go down on him,” she told Babe.net.
“And I did. I think I just felt really pressured. It was literally the most unexpected thing I thought would happen at that moment because I told him I was uncomfortable.”
Last week (ends14Jan18), the Master of None funnyman responded to the claims in a statement to Us Weekly, calling what occurred between them “consensual” and McHale feels the same about the alleged situation.
“The problem is people will read just the name and just the accusation and they don’t find out anything more than that,” he told TMZ on Sunday (21Jan18). “That’s the problem, but (the situation) sounds like it was consensual. The #MeToo movement is tremendous and it’s awesome and it needs to happen and continue forever, but if someone had a bad date, then it was a bad date.”
The #MeToo campaign against sexual misconduct was sparked following the bombshell allegations of harassment and assault levelled against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein last year (17).
Meanwhile, the drama kept Ansari away from the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday (21Jan18). He was up for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for Master of None but didn’t attend. Another actor under attack, James Franco, did attend, amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate actions.
He didn’t talk to the press, but his sister-in-law, actress Alison Brie, did. She defended the 127 Hours star, stating, “I obviously support my family and not everything that has been reported is fully accurate. I think we’re waiting to get all the information.”
