I remember when Gossip Girl was on and we talked about all of the cast members on a regular basis, and people were always like “Blake Lively is going to be the breakout star” or “Leighton Meester should be the breakout star.” I always wondered why more people didn’t talk about Jessica Szohr, who I always thought was the prettiest young woman on the show. Szohr was on GG for about four years, and suffice to say, she never really “broke out” past GG. She’s worked consistently though, and she’s currently guest-starring in the new season of Shameless. To promote that gig, she did an interview with Cosmopolitan, which you can read here. Cosmo asks her about Ed Westwick – Ed and Jessica were close friends during GG, and they’ve apparently remained friends since then. Jessica did not play dumb about the three women who have now accused Westwick of rape or sexual assault – she’s obviously read about it and spoken to Westwick. But she says she doesn’t really believe the women.
Cosmo: So, this is obviously a sensitive subject and I approach it with respect for you completely, but Ed was recently accused of rape by multiple women, and I’m just wondering what processing that news has been like for you.
Szohr: It’s a difficult subject right now for anyone that’s involved on either side … I don’t even really know how to answer it, if I should, because I don’t want anything to get twisted, because I have known Ed for years and know how lovely he is, and don’t think he would ever put someone in a position like that. It’s difficult, 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? It’s just, it’s a touchy, tough thing that you pray it’s not true and that with, outside of even him, all these different topics coming up, I’m glad that there’s notice being put on it for women that are going through it. But I also think it’s a touchy, crazy thing too, because some people are going into these different situations and they’re not coming out true. So it’s like, well, why are people making it up, because that takes away from the girls that are going through it. And then it’s also hard to go back and try to get evidence from things that were so long ago. So, I’m really trying to answer this as open and nicely as I can, because it is touchy, and I obviously for any of these situations, wasn’t there, for either side, so I can’t say it did or didn’t happen. But I know him 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.Have you spoken to Ed since the news broke?
Yes.And can you share anything about that conversation?
I mean, he’s going through a difficult time. He’s being accused of something that he’s publicly saying he didn’t do. So it’s, you know, tough on him. His show got canceled. [Editor’s note: The BBC announced that “until these matters are resolved” they are not airing Westwick’s show Ordeal by Innocence and that filming for White Gold has been put on hold.] You know, he’s like, “The truth will come out and hopefully people see that and hopefully that’s it.” It’s just such an unfortunate thing all around. And I have to be so careful, because it’s not my situation and I don’t — I wasn’t there. So it’s hard to speak on behalf of those girls or him.Right, yes. And I —
I don’t know those girls at all, and they could be lovely and awesome and all that. From the Ed I know and working with him for five years and having a friendship through all of that and after, it was shocking. It was shocking.Are you saying, then, that you don’t believe the allegations?
I’m trying to feel, like how you asked the question. I mean, from the person I know, I find it shocking, because I can’t see him doing that to someone. And it’s a tough thing because I wasn’t there for those situations and I don’t know. But if you’re asking me “Do I think he would do that to someone?” No, I don’t. But was I there? No. I’m so sorry, I’m trying to answer it in a way — this could get very sticky if this gets printed and my words get twisted, it’s not gonna be great.
I understand that it’s probably a massive shock when your good friend and colleague is accused of raping and sexually assaulting multiple women. I get that someone’s first instinct is denial, to simply disbelieve that your friend is any way capable of that. But surely there’s a balance between publicly acting as a character reference versus calling the women liars. “…Because some people are going into these different situations and they’re not coming out true…” Yeah, but that hasn’t happened? That’s not the conversation we’ve been having at all. That being said, Szohr admits the obvious, which is this: “But if you’re asking me ‘Do I think he would do that to someone?’ No, I don’t. But was I there? No.” Which is still worlds better than Lena Dunham, who called a young woman a liar based on nothing, just to defend Lena’s male friend.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.
She dated him. That’s probably why she answered the way she did. She wasn’t just a friend or colleague, but an ex-girlfriend. She’s in the same predicament Winona Ryder was when asked about Johnny Depp. As ex-girlfriends, they might have seen the good side of these men when they might have actually been good, and not the, er, transition in personality that might have happened… after they stopped dating? That’s what I’m guessing.
Yeah, they weren’t just friends. From what I recall, they dated on-and-off for several years. There should be lots of pics out there.
That’s so strange that they’ve worded it like they didn’t date. It was reported everywhere that they were a couple.
Even for the purposes of this article and getting her to weigh in, doesn’t it make a lot more sense for her to weigh in as a former girlfriend as she obviously would have experience of Westwick’s sexual side and nature. I’m sure that’s probably how he wanted her to weigh in, the fact she won’t even admit that seems calculated so she doesn’t have to discuss their sexual proclivities.
Weird.
Didn’t they date?
I think that’s the best answer there is for someone in her position. She’s his friend and doesn’t know that side of him so what is she supposed to say? She doesn’t think he would do it but she wasn’t there and isn’t calling anyone a liar. It’s one of the best statements that have come out these past months.
Yeah, she did answer as good as she could considering the situation. She didn’t turn into rapist apologist, she just said what she knows about him.
Sorry but I’m not going to attack people for not believing the accusers. It must be really difficult for people to see their family and loved ones accused of horrible crimes. They only see a certain side and unaware there may be another side. They can’t imagine that somebody they know so well could be horrible. It’s a struggle.
i can be empathetic to the struggle, but i still fully believe everyone should believe women when they say they’ve raped/assaulted and that’s that. i’m not saying it’s not painful or something difficult to process, which they should do in their own time, but believing women is the right thing to do.
in regards of JS though, i don’t have a massive issue with her answer. she’s still saying she wasn’t there, so she doesn’t know.
I have two male friends whose wives made up stories of abuse to get rid of their husbands (my firneds) and to move their new lovers into the home. Both men refused to leave the home or abandon their children. I knew both women and they both admited they lied because it was the easier way to have the men removed from the home. Both men were innocent. One died because of the stress from the arrest, jail and trial. Do I ususally beleive women when they accuse people of abuse? Yes, But I also know that people will lie to advance their agenda.
one of my good friends was accused, arrested and charged with sexually assaulting someone we both knew. I believed her, even though I knew him much better. Still believe her.
See women like her make me sick.
I don’t see at all why she had to speak about this? Just a way for her to get her 5-min by defending him. She could have said “No-Comment”, it’s not her place. She’s not dating him any longer. She put out there to make his character seem good. “Oh I have a semi-famous woman saying I didn’t r@pe her, so that means I’m innocent of the other accusations”. Literally, all she’s doing is hurting r@pe victims, who want to come forward. It was clearly planned.
Listen he’s been accused by 3 women of r@pe, 2 others of sexual assault. No way that isn’t true. False rape claims are rare enough, so you can’t expect me to believe 5 women are lying. I’m sorry but the guy you knew did these things. Women need to realize yes their ex-boyfriends, their boyfriends, their brothers, their fathers, their uncles, cousins, male friends, all commit sexual violence. They can be nice to you and treat other women like dirt.
Who cares his show got canceled, that doesn’t hurt as much as being r@ped hurts.
i think this is something we need to deal with, the fact that many women (and men) seem convinced that only a person who’s horrible all the time can be capable of such acts. or that a rapist will rape every women he’s even been with, or someone who’s abusive will be abusive with every woman he’s been with etc. it’s clear that we need to start to deal with the fact that normal people who have loved ones, and sometimes are the men WE love, are capable of things like this. it seems to be the most uncomfortable realisation.
That is a serious overreaction to her statements. She makes you sick? Why? She doesn’t say she doesn’t believe them, she talks about her own experience with him and at the same time makes it clear that this experience doesn’t allow her to judge the women. You can’t expect every person whose friend or relative is accused to immediately turn their back on them. That’s just not possible.
She flat out said “No I don’t” She doesn’t believe them. And yes you can. When 5 women accuse your male friend of this, you don’t go out to the press and do a good character interview for him, clearly set up to make him look good and the women look shitty. She also said that they were “Stretching the truth”. It’s obvious why she did this interview.
This isn’t just one woman accusing him, he has 5 separate accusers. I’m sorry I don’t put up with rape apologists like her. She should have never spoken, she added nothing to the discussion other than preventing victims from coming forward.
She said “no I don’t” to the question of if she thinks he is the kind of person to do something like that in her experience. AND THEN she added something that I think you’re overlooking: she said “Was I there? No.” She even pointed out that she can’t “take sides”, and she doesn’t know the women. She’s talking from the perspective of a friend. I dunno, I think of all “defenses” of the accused hers is the most reasonable.
These are heinous acts. No one who is capable of performing them will openly admit it. I believe the victims.
No one thought Larry Nassar would ever hurt someone, either. 150 victims have come forward. It’s sad but true. Predators count on their reputation. She is right, it’s a bad situation for her no matter what.
Honestly, I wish she would have just said “look, he’s a friend of mine. No comment”.
It would be the same. She was asked the question and she answered. She said that she was not there and that she understands the accusations.
I always thought she was gorgeous but she was so bad… Like worse than Blake.
I wish she had left it at “It’s not my situation, I wasn’t there.”
I get that it’s a hard situation though, when it’s someone you know and think well of. I just really don’t want to see people, especially women, saying that victims coming forward are liars.
I don’t think it’s worth being too hard on her…you can see her working it out as she’s answering. I get that it’s probably a terrible shock…you saw it with Savannah Guthrie this morning as well.
So true.
I sympathize with how she must be feeling, but publicly discrediting the victims’ allegations is completely unnecessary, and also perpetrates this perception that rapists are these big bad monsters, instead of people we interact with everyday.
What I wonder is how would any of us react when someone we know very well, someone we would trust with our life would be accused of something similar by 1 person (not dozens but just 1). Because I for sure can not say I would imediatly and completly trust the acuser, I probavly give the person I know and trust the benefit of the doubt. So I can’t blame her for doing the same.
Yeah I was just asking myself that same question. Like, if a woman made this claim about my ex would I instantly believe it? If I’m being honest, it would be a struggle. The thing is, it’s easy to assume from a distance that men like Ed were always creepy scumbags and harder to imagine that they compartmentalized their different “sides” and maybe only showed the best version of themselves to the women they were in serious relationships with.
It might be hard for her to accept she might have slept with a…rapist. That sounds overly blunt from my end, but I’m sure that would freak an ex-girlfriend out. I know it would freak me out from an ethical and moral point of view. I would be terrified at the idea of having been connected to such a bad person.
I agree with this, I just sat here for a couple of seconds and reflected on how I would feel if an ex had been accused of rape, and it was a profoundly disturbing thought. It would shake the foundations of what I thought to be true, not only about the ex, but about the relationship and about my capacity to judge people’s characters. It would be something that would tilt the axis of my world, and I understand if she is struggling with it.
Also, unless she is part of the legal team investigating these allegations, then the fact that she has conflicting feelings has really no bearing on the whole situation. I also think that the fact that there are 4 or 5 women claiming he did pretty much the same thing to all of them means that it is true. It’s sad but true that for sexual assault cases, there really is much more power in numbers.
Definitely. That would wreck me forever.
Because more than 1 woman has come forward, I think it’s likely he committed the crime. As an objective outsider who has never met him, I don’t feel it’s possible for all of them to be lying.
Nonetheless, when the news first broke, I did wonder what she, among all of his colleagues, might be thinking, because she had dated him.
i would immediately believe it. why? because i’ve been there, and the person who did that to me was otherwise charming, funny, seemingly kind, and had tons of friends who loved him. that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be soul destroying, but i wouldn’t hesitate to believe.
But I’m thinking of MY ex who is sweet and quiet and gentle and loving. He ISN’T the charismatic, charming, and funny guy. It’s actually much easier for me to believe that about a guy who has an outgoing and charismatic personality than a guy who is shy, respectful and gentle in his mannerisms.
With other guys I’ve know and/or dated it would be easier for me to believe.
That’s kind of what I’m saying though…it’s complicated. I don’t think that I would immediately take a side in that situation but I would absolutely stay silent till I heard more. And if I had a public platform like JS, I would probably respond similarly to how she did in that I wouldn’t know how to respond…
These women need to stop commenting publicly about this. Call the guys and support them if you want, but don’t go out implying that these women are lying because this is why victims stay quiet! We need to create an environment where victims are not afraid to speak up, and this kind of stuff isn’t helping. You never know what a person is capable of doing behind closed doors, and I think this entire sexual misconduct epidemic only proves that so many guys (yes, it’s mostly men) still don’t understand consent, respect, they don’t know when they’re making someone uncomfortable, when somebody doesn’t want them, they don’t have boundaries. So many guys think it’s hot when they’re being sexually aggressive, persistent and downright neanderthal around women. So please, I don’t care who is accused, don’t be so sure they’re not capable of doing things. Wait for an investigation to take place before you publicly call women liars.
I’m also very frustrated with a few of my friends. They’re convinced three women are lying because ~Chuck Bass could never.
The only right answer to questions like this is that you aren’t prepared to comment because you don’t feel it is your place. And refuse to say more. But she should also have been better advised, I think, so she knew to do that.
I really feel for her, because it must be the ultimate headmess in terms of what you can hear about a friend, and at least she is mindful that she was not there, and does not know. And she has someone she cares for and trusts saying it isn’t true, and yet she is still managing to stand up for him while acknowledging that the women may also be lovely people and she can’t know if they are telling the truth.
But at least she was struggling with questions almost anyone would find impossible, instead of issuing a statement that tries to insist your friend is not guilty and you factually know this because of “behind the scenes” info. I don’t blame her, whereas I can’t ever imagine having time for Lenham again. Her feminism is about as genuine as Donald Trump’s.
Yes there’s shock and disbelief when someone you know is accused. But her statement is terrible nonetheless. In my opinion, she clearly believes the “girls” are “stretching the truth” but is not saying it because she knows she’ll get a backlash. It’s not like her brother or current BF is being accused, in which case a severe stress reaction would justify her lack of fair reasoning. Her response should have been better considering the number of victims and her relative distance from the situation.
Yes that is very true about the “stretching the truth” comment (I cringed) although I bet she already regrets that she said that. I’m not entirely sure why I’m being more open-minded with her than others but I think it’s because her response was so unrehearsed, so off-the-cuff that I kind of felt for her. It just seemed like she was trying to process everything in that moment and the result was a bit of an awkward, jumbled, yet entirely earnest mess.
That being said, your point about her having emotional distance from Ed at this stage is well-made.
I think she’s maybe trying to explain the thoughts passing through her mind — the questions she might be asking as opposed to definitively stating she thinks that they might be stretching the truth. I noticed a question mark after that statement. She probably shouldn’t have said it, but it seemed like a thought process happening out loud as opposed to a definitive opinion.
The first answer is inarticulate, but then she seems to go out of her way to state she wasn’t there in the other parts of the interview. In full context, it seemed like she was trying to reconcile many different ideas at once — the person she knows vs. the realization she wasn’t there and doesn’t know what he’s like when he’s with other people. Maybe it would have been better to just have a publicist issue a written statement where one clear idea comes out as opposed to several ideas being held together at once as it does in our minds.
Three women who don’t know each other, tell the same rape story about the same man, and his ex-girlfriend has doubts. He sounds like the classic date rapist. Usually, the intended victim might very-well be thinking about sleeping with the date rapist, but she hasn’t made up her mind, because she thinks she has the option to just say no. Wrong. Rapists don’t make love. They only get off on power. They’re on a serious mission for instant gratification. They’re rough and aggressive, stronger than the victim, and they don’t take no for an answer. Afterwards, they convince themselves that the sex act was consensual, Jessica may want think about some of her and Ed’s old “lovemaking sessions”. She may be shocked.