They may be one of the best buddies in the Hollywood comedy circuit but addressing the allegations against Aziz Ansari, Amy Schumer said “that kind of behaviour” with women is not acceptable.
A 23-year-old Brooklyn-based photographer recounted a date with Ansari that she called “the worst night of my life”.
The woman, referred to as Grace, vividly described how she exchanged numbers with Ansari at the 2017 Emmy Awards after-party and went on a date with him on a bar on the banks of the Hudson River, which escalated quickly to a sexual encounter at his apartment.
Ansari, however, responded to the claims saying the two engaged in “sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual”.
In a new interview for The Katie Couric Podcast, Schumer said, “He’s been my friend and I really feel for the woman. I identify with all the women in these situations. Even if it’s my friend, I don’t go, ‘Oh, but he’s a good guy.’ I think, ‘What would it feel like to have been her?'” Schumer said.
The “Trainwreck” star said women should make “no” excuses when it comes to behaviour that makes them uncomfortable.
“If you have a doctor that makes you uncomfortable, or you get a massage, or you have a date with someone and they coerce you in a situation like the Aziz one, I don’t think there’s any sort of criminal charge, but I think that it’s good for everybody to learn that that behaviour is not acceptable.
“It’s not a crime, but it’s not cool.
And it can still really mess with a woman,” she said.
Following the woman’s claims there was a debate that whether the incident between her and Ansari took the #MeToo movement forward or was it a case of bad date and if the whole movement has gone too far in its quest of justice.
Schumer said the aim of this movement is not only to expose the men behind such acts, but is also to motivate women to speak up for themselves.
“I don’t think anyone wants to see Aziz’s career ruined or his life ruined or anything like that, but that’s where people’s minds go. They go ‘Does he deserve this?’ And it’s really not about that.
“I think it’s about expressing and showing women that that behaviour is not okay and not only can you leave, but you need to leave. Because then the women who come after you, you’re leaving a mark for them too.”
Schumer added that movements like #MeToo and Times’s Up can serve as a lesson for men.
“A lot of the men in my life are open to self-reflection and evolving and I am.”
