‘Wednesday’ actor Percy Hynes White speaks up on sexual assault allegations: 'The rumors are false'
Actor Percy Hynes White, who starred in the horror-comedy series Wednesday, has broken his silence on the sexual assault allegations that have been thrown against him.
The accusations surfaced way back in January this year through multiple social media posts claiming White and his friends manipulated women to have sex with them. These reports came just when he was gaining prominence as Xavier Thorpe, one of Wednesday's love interests.
In a statement posted on his Instagram story, White finally addressed the charges, stressing that the "campaign of misinformation" about him had been spread by somebody he never met.
"Because of this, my family has been doxxed, and my friends have received death threats," he revealed.
The 21-year-old actor then aired his outrage at how underage photos of him were used, and examples of him acting in his roles were "presented as hateful."
"My friend Jane was falsely portrayed as a victim, and her attempts to set the record straight have been ignored. She gave me permission to include her in this message," White wrote.
"The rumors are false," he emphasized. "I can’t accept the portrayal of me as someone bigoted, or criminally negligent of people’s safety. These are the kind of baseless, harmful claims that can create mistrust toward victims."
He ended his statement by expressing his gratitude to everyone who sided with him in spite of the issue.
"It’s very distressing to know that this misinformation has upset people. I’m really thankful for everyone who’s stood by me and helped share the facts. Harassment of my family, friends and coworkers needs to stop please. Thank you for taking the time to read this."
The allegations were posted on Twitter by several users. One claimed that White and his friends allegedly threw parties to "explicitly invite women they thought were hot so they could get them drunk and high enough to have sex with them."
Another one said that he would lie about his age to "pursue, have sex with, and abuse" a girl who was aged 13 or 14 at the time.
These have led fans of Wednesday to call for the removal of the actor from the cast, but Netflix had remained silent on the issue. White stars in the hit show along with Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Hunter Doohan, Emma Myers, and Christina Ricci.