In the May 2022 issue of ELLE, Rachel Zegler said being asked about her costar Ansel Elgort‘s sexual assault allegations was a “real gut punch” when she was out promoting West Side Story.
Zegler and Elgort play the leads in the musical, which finished filming in 2019. In 2020, Elgort was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in 2014, when he was 20 years old. Elgort released a statement denying the claims.
Zegler told the magazine, “I was sitting there having just turned 19, on the precipice of what was promised to be the biggest moment in my life, and was being held accountable by the public for accusations that not only had nothing to do with me but were made about a situation that was said to have occurred five years prior to when I had met and worked with this person.”
“There is inherent discomfort that comes with that realization that there are tons of people who think that you have to answer for the actions of an adult male who can speak for himself. It is so wildly disappointing at every turn, no matter how you slice it,” she added.