Ten More Women Come Forward to Tell Their Stories About Chris D’Elia’s Abusive Behavior
Almost three years after stand-up comic Chris D’Elia was ousted from mainstream entertainment for soliciting nude pictures from underage girls, 10 women have told their stories about their relationships and experiences with the prolific podcaster to Rolling Stone — as well as to the FBI.
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The accusations made by the women featured in the exclusive, four of whom were underaged during their alleged relationships with D’Elia, include patterns of emotional abuse, pathological manipulation and sexually coercive behavior. When D’Elia was first exposed for interactions with underaged fans and alleged instances of sexual misconduct in 2020, the comedian claimed that all of his relationships and sexual encounters have been both “legal and consensual.” However, the women who came forward have contested his assessment, and some have even said that D’Elia’s behavior since those allegations against him were published has been even more predatory and controlling than it had been before.
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In the article, multiple women described D’Elia’s practice of “tracking (their) locations, picking out outfits, giving curfews and pushing some of the women to get a tattoo of his initials,” as well as demanding a steady stream of sexually explicit photos and videos to the comic under threat of repercussions for failing to follow his orders. These women claim that D’Elia deliberately isolated them from their friends and family, corroborating accusations made in Kyle Anderson’s documentary The Chris D’Elia problem which detailed D’Elia’s repeated patterns of emotional and psychological abuse toward multiple women.
D’Elia’s alleged methods of grooming female fans have been well-known even before the scandal first broke in 2020 — many women featured in the Rolling Stone story admit to reaching out to D’Elia on various social media platforms, hoping to form a connection with their favorite comedian. Upon contact, D’Elia would regularly offer free tickets to women and girls, frequently requesting sexual favors or explicit photos in exchange for the seats.
For those women who maintained a relationship after the first contact, D’Elia’s demands would only increase in their frequency and intensity; many women reported how D’Elia ordered them to be “glued to their phones” so they could immediately follow any instructions sent by him. He would regularly require that these women interrupt their daily lives, pulling over to the side of a highway or rushing to the nearest bathroom to provide him with the exact pictures or videos he requested. Failure to comply with his demands meant punishment through beratement and emotional abuse. One woman recalled how D’Elia would regularly have her get on her knees and tell him that she was “nothing” for failing to complete his commands in a timely manner.
The nature of these interactions was “far beyond a consensual kink relationship,” as the women noted that “ground rules were never established” and their induction into D’Elia’s “cult-like” controlling dynamic was never discussed or agreed to. Two women reported that, every time they tried to leave the relationship, D’Elia would “make suicidal statements and plead with them to stay, insisting they were the only ones who understood him.”
Remotely, these relationships were manipulative and abusive attempts at complete control; in person, they were dangerous. One woman recalled accepting D’Elia’s invite to a show in Nashville in 2017. Following the set, she accepted a drink from a member of D’Elia’s entourage. The next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed, soon learning that “she was found unresponsive in the bathroom and dumped in the green room, where she lay on the couch until the venue closed.” The venue then called one of her friends to come pick her up. The friend, who also spoke to Rolling Stone, claimed that the venue told her they were considering calling an ambulance if she didn’t pick her up.
Another woman said that she accepted an invitation to meet D’Elia at his hotel, where he then took her up to his room and quickly began “putting his hands all over me.” The woman says he then ordered her to get on her knees, to which she obliged while “shaking and crying” as D’Elia physically cornered her. “He grabbed me by the face because I’m crying and he says, ‘Look at me,’” she claimed. “I couldn’t look at him, obviously. I didn’t want to look at him. He said, ‘If you just do everything I say, it’ll all be okay.’ I thought, ‘Okay.’” She then says that D’Elia made her perform oral sex on him.
Many of these women have presented their stories to law enforcement officials, and Rolling Stone confirmed that the FBI has interviewed several of the accusers. The bureau told Rolling Stone that it “neither confirms nor denies investigations to protect both the integrity of an investigation and the reputation of those potentially involved in it.” D’Elia and his attorneys have flatly denied wrongdoing and continue to insist that every sexual encounter and relationship was entered knowingly and consensually by all parties.
Despite D’Elia’s budding film and TV career fizzling out following the allegations in 2020, he continues to host the weekly Golden Hour podcast with Brendan Schaub and Erik Griffin, which accrues six-figure view counts on YouTube. Worth noting is that, according to the accusers who spoke to Rolling Stone, D’Elia’s alleged pattern of misconduct and abuse didn’t end with his supposed “cancelation” in 2020 – in fact, it got much, much worse.
While hand-wringing about the overzealous consequences of “cancel culture” continued in the zeitgeist, the central figure of one of comedy’s most public scandals not only continued to work — he allegedly grew even more predatory.
