‘You’ star Chris D’Elia denies sexual harassment allegations, says he never ‘knowingly’ pursued underage girls
Comedian, actor, and popular podcast host Chris D'Elia faced a slew of allegations online after a young woman opened up about being harassed by him on social media. The young woman's allegations received support and also saw other women sharing their experience with the comedian resulting in multiple allegations against the star of sexual harassment. In response to all of the allegations, D'Elia released a statement.
He said according to Deadline, "I know I have said and done things that might have offended people during my career, but I have never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point." D'Elia further added, "All of my relationships have been both legal and consensual and I have never met or exchanged any inappropriate photos with the people who have tweeted about me. That being said, I really am truly sorry. I was a dumb guy who ABSOLUTELY let myself get caught up in my lifestyle. That’s MY fault. I own it. I’ve been reflecting on this for some time now and I promise I will continue to do better.”
Fans online have also found D'Elia's character in 'You' disturbing in lieu of the current allegations. He plays the part of Henderson in the Netflix show and his character in season 2 was a man who menaces a 15-year-old girl who over his three-episode appearance, ends up dead. Despite the allegations against D'Elia, all of his work continues to be available on Netflix and other service providers as of Wednesday afternoon.
Allegations of D'Elia's online grooming began with a Twitter user posting, "I still can’t believe Netflix cast Chris D’Elia as the pedophile in Season 2 of 'You' like the literal IRONY," along with screenshots of alleged conversations with D'Elia which allude to the actor asking for pictures among other things. The user continued, "Imagine being 16 and being groomed by a stand-up comedian twice your age and the only reason you never met up and never got physically molested was because you had just gotten a boyfriend your own age."
The user further explained, "For the longest time I thought it was embarrassing for ME that I was interacting with this older man but he was the one who DM’d me on Twitter and was the one who was twice my age and was the one that used the power imbalance between us to his advantage so f**k Chris D’Elia."
She also revealed that she was not the only one who had experienced D'Elia's grooming and soon enough, her post gathered immense support with many others sharing their own experiences of facing D'Elia on social media.