Master of None's Lena Waithe opens up about Aziz Ansari sexual misconduct claims

The actress and screenwriter addresses the topic

Credit: Netflix (Netflix)

Lena Waithe has addressed the sexual misconduct claims against her Master of None co-star Aziz Ansari.

In January, a woman had claimed she felt "violated" during a date with Ansari in 2017 - one that "by all indications was completely consensual."

In a Vanity Fair cover story, Waithe - a member of the Time's Up initiative - was asked about the scenario where she became more thoughtful about what she was saying.

She thought that people need to educate themselves on the meaning of consent.

"At the end of the day," she said, "what I would hope comes out of this is that we as a society...educate ourselves about what consent is - what it looks like, what it feels like, what it sounds like. I think there are both men and women who are still trying to figure it out."

She added that "we need to be more attuned to each other" and "pay more attention to each other" in every situation.

Waithe said that people have to make sure that "whatever it is we're doing with someone else" that "they're comfortable doing whatever that thing is."

"That's just kindness and human decency," she concludes.

Waithe's interview with Vanity Fair isn't the first time she's addressed the claims against her co-star.

Right after the claims surfaced, she spoke to 89.3 KPCC's The Frame saying that "in every situation, it's not always black and white."

She added, "There are no sides, really, in some of these scenarios."

Waithe recently told The Independent Ansari was "doing good" and "in good spirits."