Chris D'Elia addresses sexual misconduct accusations: 'I have a problem'

Chris D’Elia reemerged with a YouTube video on Saturday following eight months out of the public eye after he was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

The 40-year-old disgraced comedian shared a nearly 10-minute video in which he claimed that he has ‘a problem’ and that sex ‘controlled’ his life.

‘I know it’s been a really long time since you’ve heard from me,’ he opened the video before saying he stood by his initial statement that all of his relationships have been ‘consensual and legal.’

‘I wanted that statement to speak for itself,’ he continued

He said he wanted to get back to doing stand-up and recording his podcast, but he though it was ‘best to take a long, hard look at myself.’

D’Elia clip was filmed in the same wood-paneled room in which he previously recorded his Congratulations podcast, which went on hiatus after the accusations against him in June. 

‘I do know how it looks with all the stuff that’s been said, and the emails that have been put out there, and what the media’s trying to say,’ he continued.

‘I know it looks bad, and it doesn’t show the full scope of what happened. I stand by the fact that all my relationships have been consensual and legal, and that’s just it. That’s the truth.’

D’Elia claimed he had sought out medical advice and therapy while he was out of the public eye.

He said those consultations taught him that ‘this was always about sex to me.’

‘Sex controlled my life,’ he continued. ‘And I have a problem. And I do have a problem…I need to do work on that.’

He claimed that when his career started taking off in his early thirties, ‘sex got a lot easier.’

‘I felt like, oh wow, I don’t need to work as hard. I can just do a show and then have sex. Or roll into a city and look at my inbox and then just start writing it,’ he said, referencing his messages to women for sex.

The actor claimed their were many more blunt messages to women about having sex than were shared on social media, but he said he thought his blunt manner of asking for sex was appropriate so as to not disguise his intentions.

‘That was what I thought was right. I realized through all of this that doing that is just treating sex like it’s casual and being flippant with people. 

He continued: ‘And that’s not the guy I want to be, and I’m sorry for that. It makes me feel shameful and it makes me feel bad.’

Three women have accused D’Elia of exposing himself to them without their consent, which doesn’t seem to be addressed by the video about his sex practices.

Prior to them coming forward, he was accused of soliciting sex from underage girls on social media.

After the initial reporting, D’Elia was dropped by his talent agency CAA and a Workaholics episode he made a guest appearance in as a child molester was removed from streaming platforms.

At the time, the comic and actor had a prank series in the works at Netflix that also featured comedian Bryan Callen, but that was scrapped by the streamer.