[Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.]
Kristina Cohen, star and creator of the Ladies Like Us webseries, published a Facebook post last night accusing Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick of rape.
Cohen says the assault happened three years ago, when she was dating a producer (whose name she doesn’t reveal), who took her to Westwick’s home. After Westwick told Cohen, “We should all fuck,” the actress wanted to leave, but her then-boyfriend said leaving would make things awkward. Westwick insisted they stay for dinner; Cohen tried to remove herself from the situation by saying she was tired, but the actor just suggested she take a nap in his guest bedroom. Cohen did, but says that at one point she woke up to Westwick assaulting her. Cohen writes she “was paralyzed, terrified. I couldn’t speak, I could no longer move. He held me down and raped me.”
Cohen says she told her ex about the assault soon after, and he responded by blaming her then telling her that Westwick would ruin her career if she spoke out against him. She writes, “And for the longest time, I believed him. I didn’t want to be ‘that girl.’” But after realizing how “men in power prey on women, and how this tactic is used so frequently in our industry, and surely, in many others,” Cohen decided to come forward in the hopes of helping “others to know that they are not alone, that they are not to blame, and it is not their fault.”
Westwick has not yet commented on the allegations.
UPDATE, 10:30 a.m.: BuzzFeed News has pulled its story about Cohen’s allegations against Westwick, saying it “didn’t meet BuzzFeed News’ editorial standards.” Cohen’s original Facebook post is still up as of this writing.
Update, 1:15 p.m.: Westwick has released a short statement denying Cohen’s charges. It reads: