LOS ANGELES: Actress Kristina Cohen has accused Ed Westwick of rape, reports Yahoo.com.
In a lengthy Facebook post shared Monday, Cohen, 27, alleged that the 30-year-old Gossip Girl star raped her three years ago at his apartment. Westwick has denied the allegations on Instagram.
“I do not know this woman,” he wrote. “I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape.”
Cohen — who has played minor roles in several movies and TV series — said the alleged rape occurred while she was visiting Westwick with her then-boyfriend, who is not named but referred to as a producer who was friends with the actor.
“Ed insisted we stay for dinner,” Cohen wrote. “I said I was tired and wanted to leave, trying to get out of what was already an uncomfortable situation. Ed suggested I nap in the guest bedroom. The producer said we would stay for just another 20 more minutes to smooth everything over, and then we could leave.”
Cohen said she laid down in the guest room, where she eventually fell asleep and was allegedly raped afterwards.
“It was a nightmare,” she continued. “And the days following weren’t any better.”
“I now realise the ways in which these men in power prey on women, and how this tactic is used so frequently in our industry, and surely, in many others,” she said. “I’m sickened to see men like Ed respected in such a public way.”
“How does this end?” she continued. “Men like Ed using fame and power to rape and intimidate but then continue through the world collecting accolades.”
Cohen said she felt inspired to come forward with her story by the numerous sexual assault allegations currently rippling through Hollywood and society in general. Cohen said that even now, she grapples with “feelings of guilt.”
“I don’t know where these feelings come from,” she said. “Social conditioning that everything is always the woman’s fault? That a man’s inability to keep himself off of our bodies is somehow because of us, not him?”
“I hope my coming forward will help others to know that they are not alone, that they are not to blame, and it is not their fault,” she concluded. “Just as the other women and men coming forward have helped me to realise the same. I hope that my stories and the stories of others help to reset and realign the toxic environments and power imbalances that have created these monsters.”
