Ed Westwick Responds to Rape Allegations

Actor Ed Westwick has responded to allegations that he raped actress Kristina Cohen at his apartment three years ago.

In a Facebook post published on Monday, Cohen says she was dating a man she identifies only as "the producer" at the time. The man was friends with the Gossip Girl actor, she wrote, and had taken Cohen to his home. "I wanted to leave when Ed suggested 'we should all fuck'," she alleges, adding that the producer "didn't want to make Ed feel awkward by leaving", before "Ed suggested [she] nap in the guest bedroom".

Cohen says Westwick then woke her up, with "his fingers entering my body".

"I told him to stop, but he was strong," she wrote. "I fought him off as hard as I could but he grabbed my face in his hands, shaking me, telling me he wanted to fuck me. I was paralyzed, terrified. I couldn't speak, I could no longer move. He held me down and raped me."

"The producer put the blame on me, telling me I was an active participant. Telling me that I can't say anything because Ed will have people come after me, destroy me, and that I could forget about an acting career. Saying there's no way I can go around saying Ed 'raped' me and that I don't want to be 'that girl'."

Today, Westwick responded to the allegations with a brief statement on Twitter, saying: "I do not know this woman. I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape."

Cohen's statement comes amid ongoing allegations of sexual assault in the entertainment industry, with multiple women alleging they have been harassed or assaulted by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein; a number of men alleging they have been harassed or assaulted by Kevin Spacey; and "hundreds" of women accusing director James Toback of sexual harassment or assault.