Last week, gay adult film actor Tegan Zayne alleged that fellow actor Topher Dimaggio had pressured him into having sex the night before shooting a scene.
Zayne called the sex “rape.”
DiMaggio took a couple of days to respond, but his tweeted apology was deleted.
Now, two more have come forward – neither of them are in the porn industry.
Both seem to describe similar aggressive behavior by DiMaggio, and both echo similar language used during the alleged assaults (“Dont worry about it, it’s fine…”).
The second person is a man who chose to remain anonymous using the name “Dan” in this situation. “Dan” shared his story with gay news site Hornet.
Excerpts from “Dan’s story:
Things went by, people left the party, and the next thing I remember is that I am alone with Topher in this place. I don’t know if I fell asleep and he woke me up, or how exactly I got into this position, but I was in the bedroom, I wasn’t wearing clothes, I was face-down, and he was trying to have sex with me.
Personally, I am not a bottom. I bottom, but not often, and I wouldn’t bottom for this guy — I didn’t know him that well. I didn’t have feelings for him. I had no intention of hooking up with this guy. I go out, I have fun, I meet people, I make decisions about who I want to hookup with, but this is not somebody I wanted to hookup with, so being in this situation was very jarring. All of a sudden to catch yourself — you’re drunk, you’re in a haze, you’re naked with a person you don’t want to be naked with.
And so I remember saying no, I don’t want to do this, and he said, No, don’t worry about it, and that’s kind of exactly what he said to Tegan. He was like, No, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. He inserted himself inside of me and started to have sex with me.
I said, Stop, no, this hurts, and he said, Just don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it. And he kept going and going and going and I just remember saying no, please stop, no, please. And I remember … I could see it and feel it in my head. I could remember where I was, where my body was, the pain, where he was, and then he finished inside me.
And was like … OK, well, what the fuck? I don’t know where I am, really. I’m stuck here. And then I woke up the next morning, not really knowing what was happening, sort of putting the pieces together. It wasn’t until I left and went home and I showered and I felt the pain and I was like, Holy shit, I need to go see a doctor.
So I left and went to the hospital and told them that I was sexually assaulted by a porn star and I was terrified and I needed help. I wanted to get on PEP. I knew I had a 48-hour window.
“Dan” was put a 30 day post-exposure protocol called PEP. He says he didn’t report the incident to the police because he feared retaliation from DiMaggio or his friends.
Said Dan, “My real fear was that I didn’t know what this guy was capable of. I didn’t know if he had guns or if he was on drugs.”
A third man, not aware of the second accuser, has also come forward with his own allegations against DiMaggio. Going by the pseudonym “Bryan,” the 33-year-old man who told his story to Str8UpGayPorn (site NSFW).
“Bryan” says he met Topher at a bar with friends in Sacramento. Here’s the Q&A with Str8UpGayPorn:
Was Topher friendly?
When I first met him, he said, “You know who I am, right?” And I was like, “No.” I really didn’t know who he was. So, then he says, “I’m Topher DiMaggio, from Andrew Christian. I’m the entire brand of Andrew Christian. I made them who they are.” And I was like, “OK.” As the night went on, there was a group of us hanging out; Topher and I had mutual friends. I remember thinking he was pretty physical, not just with me but with everyone. It’s like this sort of playful banter, but still it was weird that he kept, like, punching my arm.
And so all of you were just hanging out together at the club where you met him?
Yes. And one of the things that stood out to me from Tegan’s story was when he mentioned that Topher was belittling and degrading towards him. He was exactly the same to me, even though we had just met. He had this same belittling attitude that Tegan described. I remember I gave him a compliment—it was something about his body or him being in great shape—and he said something back to me, to the effect of, “Yeah, I know. And you’re like half my size.”
After a while we all left the first club and went to another club. It was here that I knew there was something wrong with him. We were on the dance floor, and he just all of a sudden pulled out his dick and pushed my head down towards his crotch.
He did this in the club?
Yes, right in the middle of the dance floor. He pushed my head down, like to go suck it, and I moved back.
Had he been drinking a lot, or doing drugs?
He was drinking, yeah, but even if he was drunk, it still obviously wasn’t right. We’ve all been drunk before, but we don’t pull our dicks out on dance floors and push people’s heads down. And later, yeah, he was doing drugs. He was doing coke.
At this point, did you have any intention of hooking up with him?
No. Not at all. I was pretty drunk, and when I’m drunk, even the hottest guys look ugly to me. Hooking up is the furthest thing from my mind when I’m drunk, and I can’t think about having sex with anyone. I was especially not thinking about sex with him.
So in terms of how the night was progressing, it was you, him, and a few friends you both knew having a night out at the club.
Right, but then some of us went back to a friend’s house, after the club.
And Topher came with you to the house?
Yeah, he came, and I think there were two others with us.
What happened back at the house?
That’s where it happened, at the bathroom in the house. That’s where it got violent. I had to go pee, so I went to the bathroom, but he followed me into the bathroom. He said, “I have to take a leak as well,” and I was like, “Whatever.” I let him go first, and he peed. Then I go to pee, and he got right behind me. Next thing I know, he pushed me forward against the wall behind the toilet, and then he pushed my face against the wall, really hard. My lip busted open on the wall, and I started tasting the blood.
What did you say to him, or had he said anything to you after pushing you?
He just kept saying, “It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine.” And then he pulled down my pants all the way. Remember, I was still trying to pee, but I couldn’t. And then I felt him behind me, and I realized what he was really trying to do. So, I said, “No, don’t. Stop.” I kept saying “No.” Then I said, “I don’t bottom.” I kept saying “no” again, and then again he was all, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry. It’s fine.”
Did you think about yelling for help? I take it the bathroom was small, and you were unable to get out?
There were two other people in the house, but I didn’t yell. I thought I could try to push him off, and the bathroom was actually spacious. If I had been able to push him off, I would’ve been able to escape. I remember my hand going on his waist and trying to push back, but it didn’t work. He was holding my chest with one arm, and then holding one of my arms with his other arm, so I couldn’t move. And then he started doing it, and I really couldn’t move. We were standing there over the toilet as he did it.
How long did this last?
It seems like it was a really long time, but I think it was only 10 or 15 minutes. When he finally stopped and he let me go, I asked him if he was finished, and he was like, “Yeah. I busted twice.” He pulled up his pants and walked out of the bathroom.
What did you do next?
I got dressed and went down to my car, and I cried and fell asleep in my car. I had to go to work in the morning, and I looked at my face in the mirror when I got home and I realized that he really fucked me up. That’s when I took the picture (of his busted lip).
You didn’t tell the people in the house though, you went down to you car.
Right. The first person I told was my mom. I told her I was raped, but that I didn’t know who it was. Saying it was a stranger I didn’t know was an easier way to tell her, I guess. I sent my mom the picture and she said she was so sorry.
Did you tell anyone else?
I told my roommates and friends, and I told my friend who told you. But telling people that I was raped hurt me more than the actual rape. At first, I was unsure where the line was drawn, and whether or not it was crossed to be called a rape. But then I was like, no, I said “no,” and he kept going, and he was violent, and by definition this was rape.
And did you ever consider going to the police?
My roommate brought up going to the police, but it was so hard to talk about. Like, I’m supposed to be a “man,” so how could I be raped? They told me I needed to file a police report, but I never did. I was dealing with my own inner battle for months. Like, did I insinuate something to Topher that might’ve caused this? Did I lead him on to deserve what I got? If I went to the police, I could imagine hearing Topher saying, “You wanted this. You asked for this.”
If Topher apologized to you today, would you accept his apology?
No. Because I don’t think he is sorry at all.
Were you worried about STDs after the incident? I didn’t ask earlier, but I presume he wasn’t wearing a condom?
No. No condom. I did go get checked for STDs, and I had everything come back negative.
How has hearing about him this week and re-telling your story made you feel? Are you doing OK?
I’m glad that this story has come out, because this is a real issue that other people need to hear about and learn from. I spent months worrying about my own reputation, or how I would look to others if people found out, and I’ve worried about being hurt all over again. But I think I’ve learned to think of myself as attractive again, and to love myself again. I did see a therapist after it happened, to make a little more sense of it. And the one thing she told me that helped was that I would need to learn to forgive him, because if I carried it around with me, I was gonna eat myself alive. So, I forgive him, but I won’t forget.
According to all sources I’ve checked, Topher has not addressed these new allegations.
I’m not sure what to make of all this except there are clear similarities in the stories. Others have now coming out saying they know DiMaggio and the described behavior doesn’t surprise them.
I’d be curious as to underwear designer Andrew Christian’s thoughts on Topher’s claim that he’s “the entire brand” and he “made them who they are.”
I have reached out to DiMaggio for a statement on the allegations, but no word back yet. I’ll post an update should I hear from him. It’s important to tell both sides of this especially when ultimately all we can say is this is a “he said/he said” situation.
