After a woman tweeted that Chris D'Elia had "groomed" her on social media when she was still a minor, the comedian responded Wednesday with an apology, Us Weekly reports.
D'Elia insisted all of his relationships have been legal and consensual, and that he "never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point." The 40-year-old added, “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."
The uproar started Tuesday, when a woman came forward on Twitter with allegations against D’Elia, saying he'd "DM’d me on twitter and was the one who was twice my age," and shared screenshots of exchanges between them when she was 16.
More women then began speaking out against D'Elia. One claimed he "exposed himself to the woman who went to help” fix the air conditioner in his Cleveland hotel room in early 2018. Another said he tried to blackmail an 18-year-old girl with nude photos when she didn't want too fly with him from Canada to L.A.
One woman tweeted the comedian tried “to f**k my friend when we were 16, and when i called u out on twitter you told her you’d ruin her life if i didn’t delete it.” And comedian Emma Arnold tweeted she was warned to never "send Chris nudes bc he made them into memes and showed to other male comics at shows.”