People Are Defending Jonah Hill Against Allegations That He Forced Himself On A 16-Year-Old Girl
Assaulting a minor is never a defendable offense.
Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock; matchthesource / Instagram In a series of tweets published July 9, 2023, former child actor Alexa Nikolas accused Jonah Hill of assaulting her at a party when she was 16 years old.
She explained that reading Sarah Brady’s “admirable post” about Jonah Hill’s emotionally coercive behavior during their relationship inspired her to publicly discuss her own experience involving Hill. In the wake of speaking out against Hill’s predatory actions, Nikolas has been discredited and devalued.
People are defending Jonah Hill against allegations that he forced himself on a 16-year-old girl.
Nikolas described attending a party at actor Justin Long’s house when she was 16, which Jonah Hill also attended.
She said, "We were all pretty wasted because of course the predators were feeding us minors a bunch of alcohol.”
“Jonah Hill seemed to have his eyes on me because at one point I wanted a cig and he said he had one in his car ‘right outside.’ Didn’t seem like too much of an effort so I trusted him. I went outside and he grabbed the cigs from his front seat,” Nikolas stated.
She said that Hill never actually gave her the cigarette he’d offered, “and then as we walked back to the door I asked him for it and he said nothing but slammed me to the door and shoved his tongue down my throat. I was so appalled I pushed him off of me and ran inside.”
Nikolas stated, “I’ve been traumatized by men in Hollywood. It’s truly sad the traumatic events I have lodged in my body and mind. Things have to change.”
She made a further call to action for accountability from the film industry, tweeting, “I want accountability. I want enablers to own up to their wrongs and create a difference. If we have the courage to stand up to men in positions of power like you, where is your courage to do the right thing and tell the truth?”
The fact Nikolas was skewered for coming forward after being assaulted as a minor, while people jumped to defend Hill, shows the extreme imbalance of power in Hollywood.
Hill’s litigation attorney, Marty Singer, made the claim that Nikolas’ accusations of assault are “a complete fabrication.” Singer called Nikolas “demonstrably unreliable” and “a serial accuser who has made assorted accusations against multiple men in the entertainment industry.”
There seems to exist a pervasive, misogynist narrative that when survivors of assault and abuse are truthful about their experiences, they do so to take good men down, as though there’s something to be won. The reality is that women like Nikolas, like anyone who’s spoken out publicly against an abuser, put their professions, their reputations, even their lives on the line by speaking their truth.
How many times have we seen this story play out this way? Influential men remain protected by the powers that be in the film industry and the world at large, while women are dragged through the mud for revealing the realities of their abusive behavior.
In a tweet that embodies how victims are continuously blamed for merely existing, one woman explained why she believes that context is important in considering the incident of a 24-year-old man forcing himself on a 16-year-old girl.
“Were they hanging out before that? Did he misread cues as flirting? Had they been dancing together? Or did he just kiss her out of nowhere? Did he know her age? Context IS EVERYTHING AND YES PEOPLE DO GET A LIL LOOSE AT PARTIES,” read the tweet.
The swift and immediate reaction of denying Nikolas her lived experience while calling her reliability into question is an example of structural gaslighting.
It shows how these systems of power work and continue to work. The public response to Nikolas’ allegations are an attempt to further shame and silence someone who experienced trauma when she was a child, when she should have been protected.
Dismantling rape culture in a world where men benefit from maintaining it can feel like screaming into a void. Here’s hoping that women like Nikolas never stop shouting the truth.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.