Ansel Elgort’s “West Side Story” co-stars Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, and Rita Moreno have spoken to The Hollywood Reporter about the sexual assault allegations made against the actor.
In June 2020, a woman, who goes by the name Gabby, shared her encounter with Elgort on social media that allegedly happened in 2014, just before her 17th birthday.
Elgort, who has since denied the allegations in a response on social media, was said to have been 20 years old at the time.
The claims surfaced nine months after shooting on “West Side Story” wrapped.
Zegler, who portrayed Maria in the Spielberg film opposite Elgort’s Tony, told THR, “We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then. A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. There’s been a lot of awakening. You just hope that the people involved are okay, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves.”
Moreno, who starred as Valentina, added, “I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter. It’s not for me to make those judgments.”
DeBose, who played Anita, then shared, “Nobody really knows what’s going on in anyone’s head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down.”
READ MORE: Ansel Elgort And Rachel Zegler Star In Epic Official Trailer For ‘West Side Story’
Elsewhere in THR interview, Zegler commented on the negative social media response to her casting: “There was a huge imposter-syndrome shadow that loomed over me.
“I was reading these horrible things people were saying, like, ‘What kind of dirt does she have on whoever holds the puppet strings in Hollywood? Because that has to be the only reason she’s booked gigs’ while waiting for this movie to come out. As much as it’s bulls**t to read, it takes a toll.”
She added of future adaptations of “West Side Story”: “In the same way that Bob Wise and Jerry Robbins probably thought they did right by it back in the 1960s, I look forward to future iterations. That’s why art is so fantastic: It can keep being adapted to move with society’s vision as well as the original.”
