In November 2017, former Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick was accused by three different women of sexual assault. At the time, Westwick posted denials of said allegations on social media.
However, Us Weekly reports that Westwick has now removed all of his denials from his social media accounts as the Los Angeles district attorney’s office begins reviewing his case. “It has come to the attention of investigators that Mr. Westwick has removed denials about alleged rapes of the victims in this investigation from his social media accounts that he had posted last November,” law enforcement told the entertainment outlet.
Us Weekly also reports that Westwick has “hired a high-profile L.A.-based female criminal lawyer to represent him.” According to a source close to the actor, “It’s his lawyer’s policy for people to not use social media.” The former Gossip Girl actor’s actions online come after it was confirmed on March 20 that “the case [the claim made by Kristina Cohen] was submitted by the Los Angeles Police Department…and is currently under review.”
Actress Kristina Cohen was the first woman to make a claim against Westwick, accusing him of raping her almost three years ago. At this time, there is no information about whether the other two accusations are being investigated.
Since these developments, Westwick has faced professional repercussions, as he was let go from the BBC miniseries Ordeal by Innocence. But the 30-year-old British native has found support from one prominent figure: actress Jessica Szhor, his former girlfriend and Gossip Girl co-star. In an interview with Cosmopolitan last fall, Szhor, while expressing support for survivors of sexual misconduct, seemed conflicted by the accusations.
Ed Westwick ex Jessica Szohr: I can’t imagine him raping women https://t.co/jsGDa9KIQN pic.twitter.com/sxNFUVobC6
— Page Six (@PageSix) November 24, 2017
“It’s difficult,” she said, “because you don’t want someone you know to go through that or do that to someone, or knowing them well, knowing that you don’t think they would. And you don’t want, for the girls that are coming forward, it’s like, are they stretching the truth?”
Szohr continued, “I know him [Westwick] well and I’ve known him for years, and I found it shocking. And I hope that it’s untrue, but I also feel bad for anyone that’s been in that situation, for the women that have to deal with that, for the situations that are true.”
We will be watching this story closely for developments.