Impractical Jokers’ Joe Gatto accused of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour by two different women

Impractical Jokers star Joe Gatto has been accused of sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour by two different women.

Last week, a TikTok user going by the username “joozyb” accused the TV personality of sexually assaulting her when she was 19 years old in a series of since-deleted posts. Gatto denied the allegations, giving a statement to Page Six on Sunday (March 23).

“I have used poor judgment and as a result have violated the trust of the people I love most,” it began. “But anyone who knows me at all knows full well that I wouldn’t assault anyone.”

“Working on myself is an ongoing process,” the statement added, “and I am now going to take some time away from the public eye to focus my energies where I need to.”

Now, a second woman who reportedly worked for Gatto during his time on the comedy prank show has claimed the comedian exhibited unwanted behaviours that she described as sexual harassment.

Speaking to People, the woman said she first met Gatto at one of his live shows when she was 15, and claims that as soon as she turned 18 his behaviour shifted towards flirtation.

She was employed by the comedian prior to his 2021 departure from the show, and started the job after graduating college. She alleges one of his previous employees had warned her that she perceived him to be flirty and handsy sometimes, and that he often told inappropriate jokes, advising her to shut things down if they became too creepy.

Throughout her time working for Gatto, the woman alleges he occasionally inappropriately grabbed her and asked for back massages, and once invited her to his room and asked her to cuddle.

Elsewhere, the source told People Gatto allegedly asked about her sex life often, and would brag about his own open relationship with wife Bessy, with whom he shares two children. The couple split in 2021, the year Gatto left Impractical Jokers, and later reconciled.

The woman alleges there was a larger pattern of emotional manipulation at play, which Gatto claimed to have been possessive, but also cold and rude if she refused to engage with his flirting.

People‘s report noted that she felt as though she always had to work to keep him at ease, fearing she could lose her job, and she eventually left his employment after two years.

Before she did, she alleges the comedian once grabbed her upper thigh while the two were in a hotel elevator during a work trip. On another occasion, he had allegedly joked bringing girls up a hotels freight elevator so they wouldn’t have to go through the building’s lobby — something the source says reminded her of joozyb’s TikTok testimony.

In the since-deleted TikToks, joozyb alleged that she was “sexually assaulted” by Gatto while he was in Milwaukee for a show in September 2023.

She claimed that Gatto sent her instructions on how to get to his hotel room, and “somebody led me to the elevator” before the alleged assault occurred at the hotel, which she claimed resulted in bruising on one of her buttocks. While she did not go into detail as to what happened next with Gatto, she told viewers “some stuff happened.”

For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.

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