Newly fledged documentary filmmaker Andrew Callaghan took to YouTube on Sunday evening to post a video apology directly addressing the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at him in recent days.
Beginning by thanking “every single person who’s came out in the past week to speak about different ways in which my behavior has made them feel uncomfortable,” Callaghan said he hadn’t realized he was exhibiting what he later characterized as “sex pest behavior,” adding that he was seeking “to do better and be fully accountable for everything that I’ve done.”
“I never thought I’d make a video like this, Callaghan said. “But um, I think there’s an important conversation to be had. And I just want to be fully accountable, honest and transparent with all of you guys.”
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Though he apologized to his alleged victims and the former creative collaborators who have since cut ties with him, Callaghan said that several accusations were untrue and “missing important contextual information.” He did not elaborate.
“It’s never easy to speak out, and it was hard for me to hear as well,” he said. “To be honest with you, up until this point, I didn’t even really realize that I had this pattern that had affected multiple people. I’d also like to apologize for my silence. I think that when this stuff first came out, I was in a state of denial and shock.”
The 25-year-old also said that he planned to begin therapy, join Alcoholics Anonymous, and take “a serious step back from public life.”
Callaghan previously addressed the allegations only indirectly, with a representative telling TMZ on Thursday that he was ready to “learn and grow.”
The spokesperson also said that the first woman to come forward had attempted to extort Callaghan prior to publicly accusing him of pressuring her into sex—a claim that The Daily Beast cast doubt on the next day.
“I thought that persistence was a form of flattery,” Callaghan said. “I hope that young people and young men in particular can use my mistakes to learn and move through life with a better understanding of consent.”
Less than two weeks after the release of his first feature film, the documentarian and journalist was hit with multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, with at least two women coming forward on TikTok to share their alleged experiences of sexual coercion.
Callaghan, 25, rose to prominence with the gonzo YouTube show All Gas No Breaks and its spinoff Channel 5, which featured him and his friends criss-crossing the country in an RV to interview right-wing protesters and provocateurs, as well as more benign weirdos, like furries and Bigfoot hunters.
His documentary special, This Place Rules, was released on HBO Max on Dec. 30.
Read it at Variety
