Comedian Aziz Ansari has issued a statement following an allegation of sexual misconduct from a woman he went on a date with last fall. The story, published on the website Babe, came from a Brooklyn photographer who declined to give her real name but shared disturbing details about Ansari’s allegedly aggressive behavior when he brought her back to his Tribeca apartment. “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,” Ansari wrote in his statement. “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.” The text he sent her reportedly read, “Clearly, I misread things in the moment and I’m truly sorry.” He added in his statement, “I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.” Ansari was among the actors wearing a #TimesUp pin at this month’s Golden Globe Awards, where he won the Best Actor prize for his Netflix series Master of None. That show’s second season included a mutli-episode arc about sexual harassment.
