Aziz Ansari (L) and Lena Waithe pose with the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for "Master of None." (Reuters)
Lena Waithe, one of the stars of Aziz Ansari's "Master of None," has weighed in on the actor's recent sexual misconduct scandal, saying that society needs to be educated on the importance of consent.
Waithe graces the cover the April issue of Vanity Fair where she opened up about the meaning of consent.
“At the end of the day, what I would hope comes out of this is that we as a society … educate ourselves about what consent is — what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like,” Waithe said. “I think there are both men and women who are still trying to figure it out.”
The "Master of None" actress and writer added, “We need to be more attuned to each other, pay more attention to each other, in every scenario, and really make sure that, whatever it is we’re doing with someone else, they’re comfortable doing whatever that thing is, and that we’re doing it together. That’s just human kindness and decency.”
In January, a young woman claimed anonymously that a date in New York City last year with Ansari turned into a very uncomfortable situation for her.
The woman shared her story on babe.net and wrote that Ansari was aggressive when he took her back to his luxury Tribeca apartment and tried to have sex with her, ignoring her verbal and non-verbal cues to indicate her discomfort. The 23-year-old Brooklyn photographer said she left the apartment in an Uber “in tears” and expressed her displeasure to him in a text message the following day.
The Emmy-winning actor responded to the allegations in a statement which read, “In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual,” Ansari told Fox News in a written statement. “The next day, I got a text from her saying that although 'it may have seemed okay,' upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said. I continue to support the movement that is happening in our culture. It is necessary and long overdue.”
Waithe's comments on the Ansari scandal come several days after actor Adam Scott told Vulture that the "Master of None" creator was doing fine following the misconduct allegation.
“I don’t know what to say on the record about Aziz. I don’t want to say anything that could be misconstrued," the "Big Little Lies" star said. “I’ll say this: Aziz is doing great. He’s a great, lovely guy. How’s that?”
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