Comedian Chris D’Elia broke a long silence Friday, posting a nearly 10-minute video to his YouTube page to talk about his past behavior.
D’Elia was accused by two women of exposing himself in separate incidents, one in 2011 and one in 2018, with their stories detailed in a report on CNN.com. Earlier D’Elia was accused of soliciting underage girls on social media.
After those accusations surfaced, CAA dropped the actor-comedian as a client. He also was let go by management company 3 Arts Entertainment. Netflix, meanwhile, scrapped an upcoming unscripted prank show in which D’Elia was featured.
D’Elia admitted in Friday’s video “I know it’s been a really long time since you’ve heard from me,” but said he hoped his prior statements denying the accusations would suffice. “I wanted that statement to speak for itself,” he said, adding that although he wanted to get right back to work, he thought it .”best to take a long, hard look at myself.”
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“I do know how it looks with all the stuff that’s been said,” D’Elia said. “I know it looks bad, and it doesn’t show the full scope of what happened.” He claimed, “I stand by the fact that all my relationships have been consensual and legal. That’s the truth.”
However, “sex controlled my life,” he said. “And I have a problem. And I do have a problem…I need to do work on that. “
Later in the video, he apologized to all who had been caught up in his activities. “I’m sorry.”
In a statement issued when the original accusations surfaced, D’Elia’s representatives sent a statement to Deadline.
“I know I have said and done things that might have offended people during my career, but I have never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point,” he said. “All of my relationships have been both legal and consensual and I have never met or exchanged any inappropriate photos with the people who have tweeted about me. That being said, I really am truly sorry. I was a dumb guy who ABSOLUTELY let myself get caught up in my lifestyle. That’s MY fault. I own it. I’ve been reflecting on this for some time now and I promise I will continue to do better.”
Watch the video above for the complete confessional.
