Whitney Cummings On Chris D'Elia Sexual Harassment Accusations: ''I'm Devastated and Enraged''
Whitney Cummings is speaking out after sexual misconduct allegations were made against former co-star Chris D'Elia.
Taking to Twitter, Cummings wrote in a statement, "It's taken me a couple days to process the information I have learned about Chris. I'm devastated and enraged by what I've read and learned."
She added, "This is a pattern of predatory behavior. This abuse of power is enabled by silence. Now that I'm aware, I won't be silent."
As E! News previously reported, D'Elia was recently accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and grooming. Twitter user Simone Rossi sparked conversations about the comedian's behavior when she publicly accused him of grooming her when she was 16-year-old.
In a Twitter thread, Rossi wrote, "Imagine being 16 and being groomed by a stand up comedian twice ur age and the only reason you never met up and never got physically m*lested was because u had just gotten a boyfriend ur own age."
Chris D'Elia Responds to Accusations of Sexually Harassing Underage Girls
Further, she also shared alleged screenshots of her interactions with D'Elia, in which the comedian asked the then-teen, "Can we make out?" Rossi stated that she and the comedian never met in real life but she felt "he used the power imbalance between us to his advantage."
After Rossi's claims went viral on Twitter, other women also went on to reveal their alleged experiences with the former You actor.
Cummings, who starred on the NBC series Whitney alongside D'Elia, went on to share in her statement, "Girls should be able to be a fan of a comedian they admire without becoming a sexual target. It's the adult's responsibility to be an adult."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/9owZVpwvXe">pic.twitter.com/9owZVpwvXe</a></p>— Whitney Cummings (@WhitneyCummings) <a href="https://twitter.com/WhitneyCummings/status/1274407841571299328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Wednesday, D'Elia told TMZ in a statement that he "never knowingly pursue any underage women at any point."
"All of my relationships have been both legal and consensual and I have never met or exchanged any inappropriate photos with the people who have tweeted about me," he said. "That being said, I really am truly sorry. I was a dumb guy who ABSOLUTELY let myself get caught up in my lifestyle. That's MY fault. I own it. I've been reflecting on this for some time now and I promise I will continue to do better."
