Before the controversy surrounding Ansel Elgort arose in the media, the actor shared the screen with Kaitlyn Dever in the 2014 film ‘Men, Women & Children.’ Following its release, Dever revealed her views on Elgort in a chat with WGTC:
“He’s incredible, he’s such a talented guy. He was very good about being his character; I think it was really cool. Something that stood out to me was that someone handed him a football, and in the movie, his character stops playing football. I was throwing the football around – Jason [Reitman] was teaching me how to perfect my football throwing. Someone tried to hand [Ansel] the ball, and he said, ‘No, I don’t play football.'”
She mentioned his acting and personality by saying:
“[He’s method] a little bit, but not over-the-top, where you’re like, ‘Alright, come on, dude.’ [Laughs]. He’s very, very good. He’s a funny guy too, very hilarious. He would make me laugh so hard my stomach would hurt.”
Years after this, while Elgort was taking part in ‘West Side Story’ with Rachel Zegler, a Twitter/X user named @Itsgabby accused him of sexual assault. In a series of tweets, she claimed that the actor had a non-consensual affair with her in 2014 when she was 17 and he was 20.
Elgort received backlash from the public on social media and other platforms, causing him to go on Instagram to deny the accusations by saying he and Gabby had ‘a brief, legal, and entirely consensual relationship.’
In his response, the actor also admitted that he didn’t take their breakup well and ignored Gabby’s messages afterward. With that, he wrote:
“As I look back at my attitude, I am disgusted and deeply ashamed of the way I acted. I am truly sorry. I know I must continue to reflect, learn, and work to grow in empathy.”
Despite his words, ‘West Side Story’ received criticism from the audience for including Ansel Elgort after the accusations directed at him. As his co-star in the film, Zegler referred to being ‘held accountable’ for the actor’s case as ‘a real gut punch.’