'There are no sides': Master of None's Lena Waithe speaks out on sexual misconduct allegations against Emmy-winning collaborator Aziz Ansari
She's a talented writer with an Emmy Award under her belt.
But Lena Waithe admitted the difficulty in choosing sides during an interview with KPCC's The Frame on Thursday, weeks after Master of None collaborator Aziz Ansari was accused of sexual misconduct.
The 33-year-old comedian said 'there are no sides' when asked about the allegations against Aziz made by an anonymous woman after she spotted the actor wearing a Time's Up pin at the Golden Globe Awards.
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Tough: Lena Waithe admitted the difficulty in choosing sides during an interview with KPCC's The Frame on Thursday, weeks after Master of None collaborator Aziz Ansari was accused of sexual misconduct; seen in September
'Here’s the truth — in every situation, it’s not always black-and-white,' Waithe said. 'And I know that’s simple for people, and it’s easy for people to [ask], ‘Whose side are you on?’ There are no sides, really, in some of these scenarios.
'I’m not on Harvey Weinstein’s side, I’m not on Kevin Spacey’s side.'
In January, Master of None star Aziz Ansari denied a woman's claims of sexual misconduct while they were on a date in September, just one day after the woman claimed she was pressured into having sex with Ansari.
Not funny: The 33-year-old comedian said 'there are no sides' when asked about the allegations against Aziz made by an anonymous woman after she spotted the actor wearing a Time's Up pin at the Golden Globe Awards; seen in June
'I think you have to take each situation [individually]. You can’t just say, ‘Well, I’m on this person’s team, or I’m on that person’s team.’ It doesn’t work that way,' she said. 'I think a big thing is, we have to have a dialogue.'
The Bones writer said that it's imperative to 're-educate ourselves about what consent is.'
'I think if we’re unwilling to have a dialogue we’re gonna continue to keep hitting our heads against the wall,' Lena said. 'We have to start re-educating ourselves about what consent is, what’s appropriate behavior at the workplace. We have to create codes of conduct. Those are things that we need.'
!['I think you have to take each situation [individually],' Lena said; seen with Ansari and Alan Yang in June](http://web.archive.org/web/20190517065201/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/02/03/07/48D66F5900000578-0-image-a-97_1517641588134.jpg)
!['I think you have to take each situation [individually],' Lena said; seen with Ansari and Alan Yang in June](http://web.archive.org/web/20190517065201im_/https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2018/02/03/07/48D66F5900000578-0-image-a-97_1517641588134.jpg)
'I think you have to take each situation [individually],' Lena said; seen with Ansari and Alan Yang in June
'It’s about really educating ourselves and not stepping in it and just [saying], ‘Oh, I’m sorry. My bad’ — and sort of keep going.
'It’s about really sitting with yourself and educating yourself in terms of what consent is, what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like. And all of us starting to really act accordingly based on this new information that I think we have now. We all gotta start talking to each other, start educating each other.'
The 23-year-old photographer said she met Ansari at an after-party for the Emmys in Los Angeles on September 17 when she noticed they had both brought the same kind of film cameras.
The anonymous woman said she exchanged phone numbers with Ansari at the party and later made plans for a date when they had both returned to New York.
'I think if we’re unwilling to have a dialogue we’re gonna continue to keep hitting our heads against the wall,' Lena said; seen in September
On Monday, September 25, she said she went to Ansari's swanky TriBeCa pad, where they drank white wine and talked, and after dinner at an oyster bar a few blocks away, she said they returned to his apartment.
She claims he performed oral sex on her and then asked her to reciprocate, which she did, before the woman claims he stuck his fingers down her throat and allegedly kept moving her hand towards his penis.
She said she couldn't say whether Ansari was just clueless or actively ignoring her signals.
'I know I was physically giving off cues that I wasn't interested. I don't think that was noticed at all, or if it was, it was ignored,' she said.
She alleges that Ansari repeatedly asked her 'Where do you want me to f**k you?'
When the woman stood up to leave, Ansari insisted on calling a car for her, she claimed.
'I cried the whole ride home. At that point I felt violated. That last hour was so out of my hand,' she said
Ansari has denied all claims against the anonymous woman.
Master of None star Aziz Ansari denied a woman's claims of sexual misconduct while they were on a date in September, just one day after the woman claimed she was pressured into having sex with Ansari; seen in January
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