The conversation about the Ansari story has become a flashpoint of conflicting, interwoven opinions, painting a complex portrait of the power and limitations of the #MeToo movement. And then there are those, like me, who land somewhere in between, believing that there is value in telling Grace’s story even as we question the way Babe decided to tell it. It’s been held up as painfully relatable and lambasted as unforgivably irresponsible.
But the divided reaction to it was almost immediate. At one point, Grace told Babe that she voiced that she didn’t “want to feel forced.” Grace said that Ansari seemed to understand, until he suggested they “chill on the couch,” where he “sat back and pointed to his penis and motioned for me to go down on him.” Grace says she felt pressured to go along with it, not knowing how to extricate herself from the situation, and eventually left his apartment in tears.Īnsari released a statement on January 14 in which he said they “engag in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual,” but that when he “heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned.”Īs of January 16, the Babe piece had more than 2.5 million views. Grace told Babe that Ansari repeatedly ignored her growing discomfort and the concern she voiced and tried to pressure her into sex. It is about a single woman who was excited to go out to dinner with a comedian she liked, before quickly becoming uncomfortable with the tenor of his aggressive advances once they went back to his apartment. It is not about workplace harassment nor does it interview multiple victims to portray a pattern of abuse.
The report is markedly different from any of the others that have come out since the New York Times broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of alleged abuse in October. She not only calls it “by far the worst experience with a man I’ve ever had,” but emphasizes that she has come to understand her experience with Ansari as sexual assault. On January 13, the website published a lengthy account from an anonymous 23-year-old woman - referred to as “Grace” - about a date night with Ansari circa September 2017 that she said went horribly wrong.
Out of all the stories of sexual harassment, abuse, misconduct, and violence that have been brought to light in the past few months, perhaps none has proved as controversial as the allegations brought against comedian Aziz Ansari.
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