Penn Badgley 'troubled' by sexual harassment claims against 'You' co-star Chris D'Elia

Actor Penn Badgley has opened up about the sexual harassment allegations against his "You" co-star Chris D'Elia, saying he is "troubled" by them. Badgley further said that he has been reflecting on the "disturbing" idea that his own show, in which he plays a stalker and murderer of women, encourages that kind of behaviour. "The idea that a show like ours would indirectly, unwittingly be a haven for people who are abusive is disturbing.

Actor Penn Badgley has opened up about the sexual harassment allegations against his "You" co-star Chris D'Elia, saying he is "troubled" by them. Last week, multiple women claimed that D'Elia harassed them online when some of them were as young as 16. Many also accused the actor-comedian of sending inappropriate messages to them and attempting to solicit nude photos from them.

In Badgley's hit stalker romance drama "You", D'Elia had played the role of Joshua "Henderson" Bunter, a famous stand-up comedian in Los Angeles, who preys upon teenage artistes. Badgley, who plays the lead role of Joe Goldberg in the Netflix series, talked about the allegations against D'Elia during an episode of the Los Angeles Times' "Can't Stop Watching" podcast.

"It did affect me deeply. I was very troubled by it. I am very troubled by it. I don't know Chris. I know that, if there's anything we need to do in this age, it's to believe women," the actor said. He also revealed that the producers of "You" had contacted 17-year-old actor Jenna Ortega, who played a teenager and potential victim of D'Elia's Henderson after the allegations against the comedian surfaced last week.

"The first thing our producers did was reach out to Jenna, who played Ellie, the girl opposite Chris in those scenes, just to make sure she felt safe. We can feel safe and sound there," the actor said. Badgley further said that he has been reflecting on the "disturbing" idea that his own show, in which he plays a stalker and murderer of women, encourages that kind of behavior.

"The idea that a show like ours would indirectly, unwittingly be a haven for people who are abusive is disturbing. It's very disturbing," he said. "Does a show like ours help to create that culture? Well, I know that at least our show ... thinks about things in a dismantling, deconstructive manner. I would hope that at least our show is not serving to uphold this kind of, like, bunk ways of being and these systems, right?" he added.

D'Elia rubbished the claims, saying all of his relationships have been "legal and consensual". "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 had said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)