West Side Story star Rachel Zegler addresses Ansel Elgort sexual assault allegations
Rachel Zegler has addressed sexual assault allegations made against Ansel Elgort.
The 'West Side Story' actress - who appeared opposite the 27-year-old actor as Maria and Tony respectively in Steven Spielberg's 2021 adaptation of the classic musical - has responded to claims made in June 2020, nine months after filming wrapped, that her co-star had sexually assaulted a woman when she was 17 and he was 20.
At the time, the actor said their relationship was "brief, legal and entirely consensual".
Now, Zegler has been asked about the allegation and told The Hollywood Reporter: "We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then.
“A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. There’s been a lot of awakening.
"You just hope that the people involved are OK, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves.”
Their co-star Ariana DeBose also acknowledged the allegations in the same piece, but and insisted "only the people who were involved" know what happened.
She added: "Nobody really knows what's going on in anyone's head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down."
Meanwhile, Rita Moreno - who played Anita in the original 1961 film and took on the role of Valentina in the remake - said she wasn't in a position to pass any "judgments".
She explained: "I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter. It’s not for me to make those judgments.”
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Elgort denied the allegations made by a Twitter user named Gabby in June 2020.
He said at the time: "I cannot claim to understand Gabby's feelings but her depiction of events is simply not what happened.
"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."
