It has been months since Chris D'Elia was first accused of sexual misconduct and the comedian has returned to social media. In June 2020, a woman surfaced online and accused D'Elia of predatory behavior while she was underage. Soon, more women would come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct and as a result, the comedian found his career in jeopardy. He was dropped by his talent agency and his prank-centered Netflix series was canceled. D'Elia was feeling the pressure of Cancel Culture and soon, he stopped addressing the allegations and stepped away from the spotlight.
He recently returned to YouTube with a 10-minute video where he explains what he's been up to during his hiatus. "When the news broke, I put out a statement that said everything I've done has been legal and consensual, and that's true, and I wanted that statement to speak for itself," said the actor. He said that he wanted to immediately speak up about everything that was being said, but he thought spending time with his family was more important.
D'Elia also recognizes that what has been circulating online "looks bad" but he says it doesn't "show the full scope of what has happened." He is adamant that he never engaged in any illegal behavior and during his "time away," he's been undergoing therapy and medical advice. "What I have come to understand is this was always about sex to me," D'Elia said. "Sex, it controlled my life. It was my focus all the time and I had a problem. And I do have a problem."
He said that when he started doing comedy, "sex got a lot easier and I felt lucky." D'Elia added, "I felt like, ‘Oh wow, I don't need to work as hard. I can just do a show and then have sex.' Or roll into a city and look at my inbox and then just start writing. And I did. I wrote—you've seen some of the messages online, there's way more than that. I would get at least 50 messages after a show each city a night, and I would reply to all of them."
"I would use the familiarities that I had with these women to have sex. I was like, 'They already know me.' I didn't have to do the extra work," he said about how his celebrity aided in his quests. "It's something that just became life-controlling. I would think about it all the time." He admitted to cheating on his "dream girl" fiancé and stated that he wants to be a better role model for his son.
There's a lot to unpack, so watch Chris D'Elia's explanation below.
