“West Side Story” star Ansel Elgort denied a sexual assault allegation in an Instagram post Saturday night.
A woman, who identified herself only as Gabby, on Friday accused Elgort of sexually assaulting her in 2014 when she was 17 years old and a fan of his.
Gabby claimed in a Twitter post that after the two met through messaging on social media, Elgort took her virginity — and though she was “sobbing in pain” during the experience, he did not ask if she wanted to stop.
Elgort, 26, confirmed the encounter happened but insisted in his own post that their relationship was “legal and entirely consensual.”
“I cannot claim to understand Gabby’s feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened,” Elgort wrote.
“I have never and would never assault anyone.
“What is true is that in New York in 2014, when I was 20, Gabby and I had a brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship.”
Elgort went on to frame Gabby’s feelings as the result of a messy split.
“Unfortunately, I did not handle the breakup well,” he continued.
“I stopped responding to her, which is an immature and cruel thing to do to someone. I know this belated apology does not absolve me of my unacceptable behavior when I disappeared.
“As I look back on my attitude, I am disgusted and deeply ashamed of the way I acted,” he continued. “I am truly sorry.”
Elgort also expressed the need for him to “reflect” and “grow in empathy.”
Gabby, who appears to have deleted her Twitter account after posting her message, had written that “when [the sexual encounter] happened, instead of asking me if I wanted to stop having sex knowing it was my first time and I was sobbing in pain and I didn’t want to do it, the only words that came out of his mouth were ‘we need to break you in.’
“I WASN’T there in that moment mentally,” she wrote.