[UPDATED] Topher DiMaggio Tries To Deny Rape Accusation By Plagiarizing Russell Simmons And Misrepresenting Tweets From Tegan Zayne
[Note: This post has been updated below with news that Topher DiMaggio’s response to the rape accusation made against him has been plagiarized, as it directly copies the same statement that media mogul Russell Simmons gave to the New York Times last month after he was accused of rape by multiple women.]
Last weekend, gay porn star Tegan Zayne shared a lengthy and detailed story accusing fellow gay porn star and onetime co-star Topher DiMaggio of raping him the night before they filmed a scene together for CockyBoys. Today, nearly five days later, Topher DiMaggio has finally issued a response to Tegan Zayne’s allegation, and his denial is problematic, to say the least.
DiMaggio’s confusing and highly misleading response comes via a collage of text images he just posted on Twitter. It begins with an image of DiMaggio’s own text (“I vehemently deny all these allegations”), and it’s then followed by two screencaps of tweets from Tegan Zayne, which DiMaggio falsely presents as proof that Tegan Zayne says he “willingly” slept with DiMaggio:
While Topher DiMaggio has the right to defend himself against these accusations, his use of Tegan Zayne’s tweet (the one that says, “Because even though I was willing to sleep with him”) to prove his case is misleading at best, and maliciously deceitful at worst. Tegan Zayne’s tweet about being “willing to sleep” with someone was about someone else and another situation entirely, and was not in reference to DiMaggio at all. But, DiMaggio used the tweet anyway out of context in order to cast doubt on Tegan Zayne. Here are the threaded tweets from Tegan Zayne in full context, which show who he was actually talking about when he said he was “willing to sleep with him”:
Even if Topher DiMaggio took the tweet out of context on accident, his attempt to shift blame and question the motives of someone who claims to have been raped is awful, and it only makes things worse. DiMaggio could’ve just denied the allegation without making implications about his accuser, not to mention presenting something that is completely false.
UPDATE:
As if this couldn’t get any worse, commenter C3XXX has pointed out that Topher DiMaggio has plagiarized his response denying the rape, and significant sections of his statement have been directly copied—word for word—from what media mogul Russell Simmons wrote to the New York Times last month after several women accused him of rape.
Here is the text of DiMaggio’s statement, with the portions that he’s plagiarized from Russell Simmons in bold:
I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core. All of my relations with this person have been consensual and willing. The current accusations against me range from the patently untrue to hurtful. Also, stating he WILLINGLY had sex with me (see screnshot below). Furthermore, he never said “no”. I’m hurt by these false accusations and malicious slanderous statements that are simply not true. The presumption of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ must not be replaced by “Guilty by Accusation.” Not wanting to further a relationship or not being friendly enough after having consensual sex doesn’t give the other person who had different expectations of a romance the right to accuse someone of something so awful. Rape is a very serious thing and not a word to be thrown around. To all my friends and followers please use this opportunity to open a healthy dialogue and not as an opportunity to attack or belittle anyone.
And, here is the corresponding text from Russell Simmons’ statement to the New York Times, with the portions plagiarized by DiMaggio also in bold:
I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual. I am blessed to have shared extraordinary relationships, whether through work or love, with many great women; and I have enormous respect for the women’s movement worldwide and their struggle for respect, dignity, equality and power. I am devastated by any reason I may have given to anyone to say or think of me in the ways that are currently being described. In recent weeks, some former business, creative and romantic partners have aired grievances as claims I categorically reject. In some of these instances, financial motives and direct contradictory witness testimony has been supplied to the media, which has been completely left out of stories. In the last few days, one woman attempted to extort me for $500,000 only to recant her ridiculous claim. The current allegations sent to me by The New York Times range from the patently untrue to the frivolous and hurtful. The presumption of innocent until proven guilty must not be replaced by “Guilty by Accusation.”
Taking Tegan Zayne’s tweet out of context to concoct a false narrative of “willingness” was disgusting enough, but Topher DiMaggio plagiarizing someone else’s rape denial to deny the rape allegations being made against him is something else entirely. How lazy and senseless does someone have to be that they can’t even defend themselves with their own lies (or their own truths), in their own words?
