English Teacher creator Brian Jordan Alvarez has responded to sexual assault allegations lodged against him.
Content warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault allegations, which some people may find triggering.
On 17 December, the Will & Grace star was accused by former collaborator and friend Jon Ebeling of sexual misconduct on and off the set of the former’s 2016 web series, The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo.
In an in-depth interview with Vulture, Ebeling recalled the start of his friendship and working relationship with Alvarez, stating that they met through a mutual friend and Caleb Gallo co-star Ken Kirby in 2015.
When discussing his first impression of Alvarez, the Jeff Can’t Swim actor said: “There is something magnetic about somebody who’s so confident that they’re going to make it. And he kept getting results with everything he did. I was like, ‘God, this guy’s f***ing awesome. I want to be more like this guy.'”
Ebeling then discussed the “parasocial relationship” he developed with Alvarez’s close friend and English Teacher co-star, Stephanie Koeing, before the former introduced them in October 2015.
Following their meeting, the Edith! actor claimed the three of them became inseparable, with him dating Koeing shortly after.
Ebeling then recalled the first time he made out with Koeing, claiming that Alvarez – who was allegedly on the same couch making out with someone else – “reached over and started touching” his thigh.
“I didn’t feel like I could do anything about it because they’re best friends, and I didn’t want to make it weird,” he added.
Elsewhere in the article, Ebeling discussed his time making The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo and the two instances where Alvarez allegedly pressured or forced him to take part in sexual acts.
The first alleged incident occurred two days after they had wrapped up filming for the pilot.
Ebeling claimed that he and the Jane the Virgin actor were hanging out at his studio, where they watched The Wolf of Wall Street and smoked weed at a neighbour’s home – before he felt “insane pressure” to hook up with his co-star.
He alleged that the M3GAN actor suggested they get intimate and compare penis sizes, with the latter claiming that Koeing would want them to experiment with each other.
After saying “no” multiple times, Ebeling said he let Alvarez perform oral sex on him.
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“I thought this is what I needed to do to keep the peace, to keep seeing Steph, to stay on the show,” he said.
In addition to the aforementioned incident, Ebeling alleged that Alvarez sexually assaulted him while filming a sex scene for the third episode of the Caleb Gallo series.
During the scene in question, their characters are flirting while cuddling in bed before Caleb (Alvarez) asks Billy (Ebeling) if he could “suck it.”
Stage directions obtained by the news outlet describe Caleb going “to do so, under the covers.”
However, instead of faking the act, Ebeling claimed that Alvarez went under the blanket, pulled down his underwear and started to perform oral sex.
“I am assuming nobody on set knows what’s going on under the comforter, and I’m just frozen. I didn’t know what to do. I’m on set with my director, who is assaulting me. It was a horrible feeling,” he said.
Shortly after the report’s release, representatives for Alvarez denied Ebeling’s accusations in a lengthy statement to The Wrap.
“Brian Jordan Alvarez’s interactions with Jon Edebling were always entirely consensual – as numerous witnesses have attested. Indeed, in 2018, two years after this alleged incident, Mr. Ebeling himself unambiguously said as much on tape,” they told the news outlet.
“For many months, Mr. Ebeling has peddled his falsehoods to anyone who would listen but, when confronted with proof of his duplicity and definitive evidence provided by third parties showing why Mr. Ebeling should not be trusted, numerous media outlets declined to print his outrageous claims.”
“Sadly, New York Magazine displayed no such judgement in its reckless headlong pursuit of publishing a salacious, attention-grabbing article, no matter the truth.
The rep also claimed that New York Magazine “ignored first-hand testimony about Mr. Ebeling’s history as a perpetrator of scarring acts of assault,” adding that it was a “deeply troubling reflection on New York Magazine’s ethics.”
“Anyone tempted to republish Mr Ebeling’s claims should be aware of the risks involved in doing so. Brian is currently taking legal advice as he considers his next steps,” they concluded.
Read the full Vulture report here.
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