In early November 2017, in the middle of a national conversation about sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, two women came forward with strikingly similar stories about being raped by Ed Westwick. Kristina Cohen was the first to tell her Me Too story about Westwick. Two days later, Aurélie Wynn told her story. Both involved the women feeling “sleepy” at Westwick’s home – it’s likely that he spiked their drinks – and the women falling asleep somewhere in his home, only to be woken up by Westwick assaulting them. A couple of weeks after Wynn and Cohen shared their stories, a third woman came forward. Her name was Rachel Eck, and she not only spoke of being sexually assaulted by Westwick, she talked about his partner in assault, her boyfriend at the time, Kaine Harling, who was also around for Cohen’s rape (he brought Cohen to Westwick’s home). In March 2018, a fourth woman came forward to say that Westwick had drugged her, raped her and kept her captive in his home for several days as well.
At the end of the day, all four women went to the authorities to file reports years after the crimes took place. The LA prosecutor declined to prosecute Westwick for the crimes he committed against all four women… that we know about. God knows how many other women he hurt. My point is that “declining to prosecute” is not the same as “cleared of all charges,” “found innocent” or “the victims were disproved.” I 100% believed his victims’ stories and it remains one of the most disturbing “cases” of the Me Too era, and one without justice for his victims. There are still Gossip Girl superfans who have no idea that any of that happened, or they think the women were all lying or that Westwick was proven innocent. Not the case.
I bring all of this up because Westwick is in the news this week for some social media game he played on Gossip Girl fans. He teased a “big announcement” on social media, then it turned out that his big announcement was a line of face masks… and not a reboot of Gossip Girl or something. The fact that there are still so many people engaging with him on social media is disturbing. The fact that we’re all supposed to pretend that four women didn’t bare their souls and risk their careers and livelihoods to tell their stories. The fact that Westwick got more “backlash” about a social media stunt than he did for being accused of multiple rapes… none of this says anything good about our society.
Ed Westwick receives backlash from #GossipGirl fans as his surprise announcement' is selling face masks, later reveals a portion of net proceeds will go to ‘Kick It Out’ organization. pic.twitter.com/Bt5MJRe476
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 16, 2020
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
I have never heard anything positive about this guy and the only time I have ever heard him speak he came off like a major tool. Also I would want to know exactly what percentage of his profits he plans to share. I am sure it is very low single digits.
Right, even when the news was breaking about him, I don’t remember any of his co-stars defending him or saying anything?
He’s disgusting.
He’s always given me creepy vibes, even on gossip girl.
Some men have an abuse fetish. But we also have to hold the women who worship these rapists accountable.
Men can be as misogynistic and horrible as it gets, there are still women out there who would literally kiss the ground they walk on. The fact that he still has groupies who are willing to overlook these rape claims tells me all I need to know about who is really hindering progress for gender equality. Pathetic.
Women do not hold the kind of power in our society that rich white men do. You read a story about four women coming forward about a man raping them, and being dismissed by the police, and your conclusion is *women* are most hindering gender equality? Not the male rapist, not the POLICE? There is a powerful system at work here. It includes internalized sexism (I’m assuming his fans either don’t know or don’t believe, because of the system in our society that pressures us to gaslight women and protect men), but it is driven and run by and for MEN.
Blaming women for gender inequality is so off the wall, I can’t even. Seriously.
I hear you, Elizabeth. The system is rigged agst women. But sometimes it’s frustrating to see internalized misogyny in action – as someone who knows better.
That last picture is so freakin cringe, good god. Stan culture is so toxic.
It doesn’t strike me as cringe, it’s unsettling. That’s a four times accused rapist (as Kaiser points out, who knows how many women he’s done this to) just looking creepy, holding flowers which are traditionally used in loving relationships to woo… it’s disgusting.
He’s unattractive btw. eeeew.
I never understood what people liked him for or gossip girl! I barely reached the end of season one and never went back
Same here, and a big part of that was my discomfort with him. He really creeped me out and was so off putting on screen. I was sad, but not one bit surprised, to hear the accusations against him, because he definitely pinged my BAD GUY BAD GUY radar (which has turned out to be pretty accurate).
That last pic…he looks so smarmy. The open shirt, the pose, the gold chain, the eyes that make him look like he’s definitely on something. You couldn’t pay me to take flowers from that man. Those poor women.
There’s something so dark and cold about his eyes. I wouldn’t want to be in a room alone with him.
ooooo…..on the other hand…I would. I have no F**Ks to give and would quite happily be in a room alone with him. Trouble being….he might not leave walking tall…or walking at all. I have some serious anger issues around being drugged and finding someone on top of you after you’ve passed out………..
He and his friend should have been in prison a long time ago. I have never forgotten what he and his friend did to those women, I wish the attention behind it had never died down. I hope this revives it and they reopen the investigation. They are both horrid, disgusting abusers that should never see the light of day again.
He’s clearly trying to cash in on his Gossip Girl glory days with the XOXO mask & posing with pink peonies flowers (Blair’s favorite on the show). I admit to being a huge fan of the show back in the day but …..now……he’s just Ewww……..
What a stupid comment for me to make, given the topic at hand. But Blair’s favorite flowers were hydrangeas.
Nope. Peonies.
Sorry Ana but they were Peonies. I agree that it’s irrelevant given the topic.
Why not just print ‘sociopath’ on the mask for authenticity.
“I think we could all agree the world could use some hugs and kisses right now. ” Like really? From a rapist???