Aziz Ansari reflects on personal growth after 2018 misconduct allegations

Aziz Ansari is looking back at the assault allegations made against him seven years ago.

Back in 2018, the 42-year-old comedian was accused by an unknown woman of making unwanted advances and ignoring her non-verbal cues of denial.

Ansari revealed in a statement back then that the claims left him feeling “upset, humiliated and embarrassed.”

In a new interview, Ansari told The Hollywood Reporter that he personally apologized to the woman. “I mean, I apologized to the person personally, right? When it happened,” he said.

He further clarified that he did not stepped back from his work after the allegations.

“It wasn’t really a break, per se. I did that tour, and I wanted to address it in the special because people were curious about how I felt about the whole experience. So I felt like I had to talk about it in the special,” he explained.

Recalling the 2022 production shutdown of his directorial debut Being Mortal, Aziz said, “Everybody’s texting me, ‘Oh, Aziz, I’m so sorry.’ And I said, ‘Oh God, I can’t live in this woe-is-me moment.’”

He added that he reached out to Seth Rogen for help. “I said, ‘Hey, I know you’re supposed to be filming Being Mortal, so you’re free today. This is a shitty day for me. If you want to help me, read this, tell me if you want to do it.’” Two hours later, Seth was on board.