Szohr says she’s talked to Westwick since the allegations came out.
Jessica Szohr is speaking up in defense of her Gossip Girl co-star and ex-boyfriend, Ed Westwick. The 30-year-old actor is facing several allegations of rape, which he has categorically denied.
Westwick previously told fans on social media that he is “cooperating with the authorities” in order to clear his name quickly. In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, Szohr, 32, addressed the controversial topic of the allegations against her ex.
“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,” Szohr began, noting that the topic was “tricky” and that she didn’t want her words to be “twisted.”
Adding that she doesn’t want to speak for Westwick or his accusers, Szohr added, “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.”
She noted that she has spoken with Westwick since the allegations came out, revealing, “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.”
Westwick’s BBC show Ordeal by Innocence is not airing and filming for White Gold has been put on hold in the wake of the allegations. Westwick and Szohr dated from 2008 to 2010.
“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,” Szohr added.
She noted that she could only speak from her own experiences, saying, “If you’re asking me ‘Do I think he would do that to someone?’ No, I don’t. But was I there? No.”
For more on the allegations against Westwick, watch the clip below.
