Amy Schumer revealed that she was sexually assaulted when she was younger.
Speaking to Katie Couric on her Wonder Women
podcast, Schumer said, “I’ve been flat-out raped.” The
actress continued, “But there are so many other kinds of sexual
misconduct. We’ve all — every woman I know, every woman in this room —
we’ve all had these experiences.” She emphasized that “in this current
climate, it brings these things up and you go, ‘God, none of that was
OK.’”
The 36-year-old comedian had a similar experience while writing he 2016 memoir, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo,
in which she reveals that her first sexual encounter was not
consensual. “I didn’t think about it until I started reading my journal
again,” she told Marie Claire. Speaking
to Couric, she elaborated, “When it happened, I wrote about it almost
like a throwaway. It was like, ‘And then I looked down and realized he
was inside me.’ He was saying, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and ‘I can’t believe I
did this.’”
Schumer also discussed the sex scandals engulfing
Hollywood with Couric, specifically talking about the case of her friend
Aziz Ansari. Ansari was accused of sexual misconduct by a woman he went
on a date with last year, and she shared the details in an essay
titled, “I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life.”
Amy Schumer spoke about the accusations against her friend Aziz Ansari. (Photo: Getty Images)
Schumer explained that while not every case may be
criminal, it’s important that such encounters are brought out into the
open. “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 [Ansari] 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 behavior’s not acceptable,” she said. “It’s not a crime, but it’s
not cool. And it can still really mess with a woman. … We just can’t let
things continue the way they’ve continued, because there are so many
different levels of it.”
The Parks and Recreation star was accused of ignoring
signals that his date was uncomfortable with his sexual advances, and
persisted regardless. He’s since said he believed the encounter was
“completely consensual” and was “surprised and concerned” by his date’s
accusations.
“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,” Schumer continued. “They go, ‘Does he deserve this?’ And it’s
really not about that. I think it’s about expressing and showing women
that that behavior 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 concluded,
“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?’”
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