Chris D'Elia accused of sexually harassing underage girls

Actor and comedian Chris D’Elia is the latest public figure to be accused of sexual misconduct. On June 16, a Twitter user shared screenshots of private conversations that she claims took place between her and D'Elia when she was just 16 years old, in which he appeared to be angling for a meet-up. As more and more people saw the thread, others added similar experiences to the conversation, and now the 40-year-old is facing some serious accusations.“For the longest time i thought this was just a funny story to tell at parties when i realized what happened isn’t normal and that he was and could still be doing this to younger girls and it’s my job to say something, " a user named Simoné wrote in a thread.

imagine getting owned by a 16 year old pic.twitter.com/wKTSx6ie5S

— simoné (@girlpowertbh) June 16, 2020

Soon after the tweets went viral, others began adding their own stories. One Toronto comedian recalled her own experience with D’Elia when she was 21 years old. He was in town for a show, and she had reached out for tips on her craft.[video_embed id='1920646']RELATED: The Social hosts react to Harvey Weinstein’s sentence[/video_embed]

STORY THREAD: When I was 21, I was an aspiring comedian and huge Chris D’Elia fan. One day, Chris tweeted about being in Toronto filming something, so I jokingly responded asking if he wanted to hang out. He DMed me to “hang out” almost immediately and I freaked out!

— ostad (@livstadler) June 17, 2020

But I was young and dumb and just really wanted to meet a role model of mine so I agreed to meet him in public, at a bar. 10 minutes before our meeting time, he switched the location to his hotel bar. I sighed, knowing where this was going. But went anyway, I wanted to meet him!

— ostad (@livstadler) June 17, 2020

I started drinking at the hotel bar while I reflected on the situation. Eventually, I texted him... asking what his room number was. He told me, and I charged all of my drinks to his room and left. THE END.

— ostad (@livstadler) June 17, 2020

Meanwhile, a user named @SheRatesDogs has been amplifying anonymous voices by sharing their screenshots to show countless cases of young or underage women reporting similar behaviour from the comic, until the messages got to be too much for her.“I’m very overwhelmed with my DMs and if you’ve shared something really personal with me and I haven’t responded I’m so sorry,” she wrote. “You’re loved and you’re seen and I wish I could speak to each of you personally.”

https://t.co/wdAOm1iQyj for all the “but did he KNOW they were underage” comments https://t.co/dOJi9bfFAR

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

pic.twitter.com/FjY4uGiRbG

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

https://t.co/nvTYWPOC17 https://t.co/5CxFlypvIU

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

Two different girls pic.twitter.com/Q01Rbgjs8p

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

First three are one girl, last one is another pic.twitter.com/7IIl9JvVyc

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

Four different people pic.twitter.com/YgQSFsc5OO

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

Two more- one 16 one 19, all teenagers pic.twitter.com/t0JjRKapD9

— SheRatesDogs (@SheRatesDogs) June 17, 2020

D'Elia has been doing the stand-up circuit for years, and famously roasted Justin Bieber in 2015 as part of the Comedy Central series when the singer revealed D’Elia was his favourite comic. D’Elia also co-starred with Whitney Cummings in the NBC series Whitney, he was one of the leads on Undateable and he’s had recurring roles on Alone Together and The Good Doctor.His most recent role on Netflix’s second season of stalker series You starring Penn Badgley has also been pulled into the conversation on Twitter since Simoné’s original tweets surfaced. On the series, D'Elia played a celeb and stand-up named  Joshua “Henderson” Bunter, a violent pedophile who drugged and sexually assaulted underage girls.UPDATE: D'Elia has denied the allegations with a statement to TMZ."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 told the publication. "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."He does, however, admit he could have made better choices and vows to do better."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."[video_embed id='1787939']BEFORE YOU GO: New book examines how the #MeToo movement changed the world[/video_embed]