Comedian Chris D’Elia was trending on Twitter on Tuesday and Wednesday after many young women came forward on social media alleging that he solicited nudes from them and was sexually inappropriate when they were underage.
Twitter user Simoné Rossi kicked things off with a tweet saying “i still can’t believe netflix cast chris d’elia as the pedophile in season to of ‘you’ like the literal IRONY” and shared emails that she claimed were from D’Elia when she was 16. After Rossi came forward, many, many other young women shared their experiences with the comedian.
Twitter user @SheRatesDogs received many DMs from young women who claimed to have been solicited by D’Elia, putting a number of the women in touch with journalists working on stories.
The amount of stories I’m receiving about Chris Delia is insane, I cannot go through each dm or add everything to the thread but here’s an idea of the scope pic.twitter.com/aJkkq17VJF
— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020
In a statement to TMZ, D’Elia denies the allegations, claiming that all of his relationships have been with women who are of age and consensual.
“I know I have said and done things that might have offended people during my career, but I have never knowingly pursued 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. 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.”
When the allegations about D’Elia came out, comedians on Twitter… didn’t seem that surprised. Ginny Hogan wrote: “Point: saying someone ‘looks like a pedophile’ is stereotyping and not right. Counterpoint: Chris D’Elia.” Django Gold tweeted “this Chris D’Elia sh-t is wild, but I guess it’s always the first person you suspect.”
Lane Moore also shared a clip of D’Elia talking about teenage girls with the caption “‘There’s no such thing as a 14-year-old girl anymore. They go from 6 to 25.’ –Chris D’Elia in this video sure is…saying some things???”
"There's no such thing as a 14-year-old girl anymore. They go from 6 to 25." –Chris D'Elia in this video sure is…saying some things👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/uEhE0sIwFZ
— Lane Moore (@hellolanemoore) June 17, 2020
In a particularly Hollywood twist, D’Elia has played a pedophile on television twice. He guest starred in the second season of Netflix’s You as a comedian who preys on underage girls who (spoiler alert) gets killed by serial killer Joe Goldberg. He also played a pedophile who groomed young boys in an episode of Workaholics.
We will update this story as it is investigated further.
