Maybe this is a bit of corporate righteousness; maybe it’s a trivial PR scolding. The BBC reports that BBC One will not be broadcasting its Agatha Christie thriller “Ordeal by Ordinance” starring central casting douche Ed Westwick, which was due to debut on Christmas. For now. Westwick, aka Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl, was accused of rape by two women this week, and the Los Angeles Police Department has opened an investigation into one of the allegations.
The BBC has said in a statement:
These are serious allegations which Ed Westwick has strenuously denied.
The BBC is not making any judgement but until these matters are resolved we will not include Ordeal by Innocence in the schedules.
He’s also taking a break from filming the comedy “White Gold,” currently streaming on Netflix.
The first woman to come forward, actor Kristina Cohen, wrote on Facebook on Monday that three years ago her then-boyfriend, a producer, brought her to Westwick’s house. She alleges that Westwick casually suggested “we should all fuck,” she declined, saying that she was tired. After, she claims, her boyfriend insisted they stay “to smooth everything over.” She says that Westwick suggested she nap in his guest bedroom, where he raped her. Afterward, she said, her boyfriend shamed her into silence:
The producer put the blame on me, telling me I was an active participant. Telling me that I can’t say anything because Ed will have people come after me, destroy me, and that I could forget about an acting career. Saying there’s no way I can go around saying Ed “raped” me and that I don’t want to be “that girl.”
Inspired by Cohen to come out, a second woman, former actress Aurélie Wynn, told the same exact story on Wednesday; after staying up til 5 AM at Westwick’s house, she says, her group of friends all went to the guest bedrooms to sleep, and there was Westwick:
And like Kristina, I said no and he pushed me face down and was powerless under his weight. I was wearing a one piece bathing suit that he ripped, I was in complete shock, I am also very tiny. When it was over I got my cellphone and found that the girl that had invited me had left or got kicked out.
...
I told the guy I was seeing that I got raped, Mark Salling, and when he found out by who he pretended not to know him, then blamed me for it and broke it off with me. My other friends and people around me told me it was best not to say anything, to not be “that girl” and that no one would believe me and think I was just out trying to get my 10 seconds of fame.
Westwick calls the allegations “provably untrue” and says he is “cooperating with the authorities”:
So long for now, Ed Westwick.
At least the pressure is on for the industry to make big public showings. Netflix is basically photoshopping Kevin Spacey out of House of Cards, it cancelled his Gore Vidal biopic, and Ridley Scott has replaced him six weeks before his new movie’s release; FX, HBO, and Netflix have cancelled projects with Louie CK; his production company has elected not to release I Love You, Daddy; Warner Bros. has reportedly elected not to renew its production deal with Brett Ratner’s production company.
The world is waiting, Academy.