Aziz Ansari Speaks Out On Sexual Assault Allegations, Claims He Believed Everything Was ‘Consensual’

Aziz Ansari has responded to a Brooklyn photographer’s claims that he sexually assaulted her on a date last year, expressing that he believed that everything that happened between them was consensual.

The Master of None star, 34, has been accused by a woman calling herself Grace, in the publication babe, of being sexually forceful following a date in Manhattan after meeting Ansari at the 2017 Emmy Awards.

According to Grace, Ansari repeatedly attempted to goad her into oral sex and intercourse, even after she repeatedly refused his advances and asked him to “chill.” Ansari allegedly quelled his demands for a time, before pressuring Grace into having sexual relations with him again.

In a statement on Sunday, Ansari expressed that he had taken the woman’s words “to heart” and that everything that occurred during their date, in his opinion, had been “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,” Ansari wrote. “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,” he continued. “It is necessary and long overdue.”

Ansari’s statement follows the post from babe where the woman details an excursion between she and Aziz that started off well, but soon turned troublesome after Ansari continually attempted to sexually escalate things between them once they reached his Manhattan apartment.

“In a second, his hand was on my breast,” Grace explained to babe writers.

After a kiss, Grace said that Ansari attempted to obtain a condom for intercourse, for which she told him to “chill.” Other sexual acts occurred that night — a number of them, Grace says she unwillingly adhered to — and ended with Grace in a cab, in tears, and a text sent to Ansari about his actions, as noted by Deadline.

The woman has not responded to Ansari’s statement. Netflix, which streams Ansari’s Master of None, has not commented on the status of the show.

Aziz Ansari Answers Accuser: ‘I Took Her Words to Heart’ https://t.co/5ztNzxfdLi pic.twitter.com/eukCwoBVYv

— TheWrap (@TheWrap) January 15, 2018