On Saturday night, Aziz Ansari became the subject of sexual misconduct allegations stemming from a September 2017 sexual encounter, and he has now responded to those accusations. The accuser claimed that he grew aggressive at his apartment after a date, even after she told him she didn’t want to feel “forced.” The woman also said she felt coerced into performing oral sex, and she supplied purported text messages, in which Ansari appeared to be surprised after the woman texted, “[I]t may have seemed okay … [but] you ignored clear non-verbal clues; you kept going with advances.”
In his statement, Ansari says he indeed felt “surprised and concerned” by the woman’s texts after their date. He also says that he “took her words to heart” and has responded to her privately. Ansari stresses that he supports the #MeToo movement, which he describes as “necessary and long overdue.” His full statement, which you can read below, has been published by both Fader and Deadline:
In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which 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.
-Aziz Ansari