Aziz Ansari Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Photographer

Photo: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Peabody

Comedian and actor Aziz Ansari has been accused by a New York–based photographer of sexual misconduct during a date. Speaking anonymously with Babe, the 23-year-old woman claims she met Ansari at an Emmys after-party in L.A. last fall. They exchanged numbers, which led to a date in Manhattan about a week later. The woman said the date began normally, with dinner at an outdoor oyster bar, but when they went to Ansari’s apartment afterward, things quickly escalated to a point of discomfort.

“In a second, his hand was on my breast,” the woman recounted. “It was 30 minutes of me getting up and moving and him following and sticking his fingers down my throat again. It was really repetitive. It felt like a fucking game … most of my discomfort was expressed in me pulling away and mumbling. I know that my hand stopped moving at some points, I stopped moving my lips and turned cold.” When the woman reiterated her reluctance to do anything sexual that evening, Ansari reportedly listened at first, but soon chose to persist anyway.

“He sat back and pointed to his penis and motioned for me to go down on him. And I did. I think I just felt really pressured. It was literally the most unexpected thing I thought would happen at that moment because I told him I was uncomfortable,” she continued. After one last attempt at watching TV with Ansari, the woman says the actor allegedly “kissed her again, stuck his fingers down her throat again, and moved to undo her pants,” which prompted her to leave.

In a cell-phone screenshot obtained by Babe, Ansari allegedly texted the woman the next day to thank her for the “fun” evening. “Last night might’ve been fun for you, but it wasn’t for me,” she responded. “You ignored clear non-verbal cues; you kept going with advances.”

“I’m so sad to hear this,” he responded. “Clearly, I misread things in the moment and I’m truly sorry.”

Ansari’s reps didn’t respond to Babe’s request for comment.

Aziz Ansari Accused of Sexual Misconduct by Photographer