(Image source from: Hollywood Reporter)

Indian American comedian Aziz Ansari, on his new special, opened up about the sexual misconduct accusation against him last year that left him feeling “humiliated” and “embarrassed” - and then uses it as material for a joke.

The comic tells the audience at his Netflix special about a stranger who confused him with Hasan Minhaj but then recognized Ansari and brought up the misconduct allegation.

“No, that was Hasan,” Ansari replied.

But Ansari also got serious about how he was impacted by the story published by Babe.net, which detailed a date in which a woman said she felt “violated” after he pressured her for sex.

“There’s times I’ve felt scared,” Ansari said during the show. “There’s times I’ve felt humiliated. There’s times I’ve felt embarrassed. And ultimately, I just felt terrible that this person felt this way.”

The special, “Aziz Ansari: Right Now,” was taped in May and began streaming Tuesday.

Ansari, who wrote a book about dating in the digital age titled “Modern Romance,” said in a statement following the allegation that he felt the encounter described in the Babe.net story was “completely consensual."

Ansari said during the special he hoped the story had pushed men to think more about their behavior.

“I always think about a conversation I had with one of my friends," Ansari said, “where he was, like, ‘You know what, man? That whole thing made me think about every date I’ve ever been on.’ And I thought: ‘Wow. Well, that’s pretty incredible. It’s made not just me but other people be more thoughtful, and that’s a good thing.’”

Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Explaining the whole scene, Ansari, after allegations hit him, said: “In September of last year (2017), I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterward we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual,” Ansari said in a statement, USA Today reported.

Ansari said he was surprised the next day when he received her message that she felt uncomfortable.

“The next day, I got a text from her saying that although “it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said,” he added.

According to Babe.net, which first broke the story, Ansari forced himself upon the 22-year-old Brooklyn-based photographer during a New York City date on September 26, 2017.

She alleged that Ansari forced her into oral sex even though she expressed her disapproval. “I know I was physically giving off cues that I wasn’t interested in. I don’t think that was noticed at all, or if it was, it was ignored,” she told Babe.

“I said ‘I don’t want to feel forced because then I’ll hate you, and I’d rather not hate you,’ ” she added.

The woman has also shared screenshots of her conversation with the actor after the experience.

According to the website, Ansari apologized to the woman after receiving her message.

By Sowmya Sangam