Facing backlash for attending Aziz's Los Angeles show, the 'Ocean's 8' actress also explains why she deleted comments that compared the 'Master of None' co-creator to R. Kelly.

AceShowbiz - Actress Mindy Kaling has clashed with fans online over her continued support of comedian Aziz Ansari following his sexual misconduct scandal last year.

The "Master of None" star hit headlines in January, 2018, when a New York-based photographer, going by the name of Grace, accused him of coercing her into performing sex acts following an early 2017 date, which resulted in the couple going back to the actor's home.

At the time, Ansari admitted he was stunned by the allegations, explaining he and the woman in question had engaged "in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual," and revealed he had "responded privately" to the female to discuss the incident.

He has since returned to the stand-up stage for his comeback tour "Road to Nowhere", and recently reflected on the controversy, claiming it had given him a "new perspective on life" and made him a "better person".

On Friday night (February 22), Ansari performed in Los Angeles, where a number of celebrity fans were in attendance, including Mindy, who shared a snap of her ticket on Instagram after the show: "Funniest s**t ever," she captioned the image.

Lihat postingan ini di Instagram

Funniest shit ever. ❤️

Sebuah kiriman dibagikan oleh Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) pada

However, some fans were not amused by Mindy's support of Aziz in light of the sex assault accusations, and made their feelings clear in the comments section.

"Well this is disappointing because toxic masculinity, no consent, no accountability is not what you want to promote as a feminist we need no more rape apologists (sic)!" cried one follower, as another wrote, "You used to be my hero. So disapponting (sic)".

Mindy decided to respond to some of the negative remarks, insisting she supports victims of sexual misconduct, but was standing by her friend because she thought he had handled the situation as well as could be.

"I'm a feminist and standing up for women is very important to me," the "Ocean's 8" star wrote back to one hater. "I'm not rehabbing him Bc (because) I think he did a fine job doing it himself."

Her reply did little to quell the backlash, and only prompted more criticism of her public backing of Aziz.

Others even went as far as to liken Aziz to R. Kelly, who has repeatedly denied longrunning allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct with young women, but was charged with 10 felony counts of sex abuse on Friday, February 22.

The comparison clearly irked Mindy, as she began deleting some of the more offensive comments, before explaining why she had removed them from her page: "I think comparing Aziz to R. Kelly was offensive and degrading to the victims of R. Kelly, so yeah, I deleted it," she declared.

Mindy also encouraged critics to listen to what Aziz had to say about the sex scandal, which he addressed onstage for the first time at a gig in New York earlier this month, apologising repeatedly and admitting he had felt " really upset and humiliated and embarrassed", and "ultimately... terrible this person (Grace) felt this way".

"I definitely don't separate the art from the artist," the funnywoman shared. "His experience has shaped his art and he talked about (it) eloquently. I hope you check it out."

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