Brian Jordan Alvarez denied allegations of sexual assault detailed in a Vulture article that outlined the fallout of the “English Teacher” creator and star’s friendship with former co-star Jon Ebeling.
The article presents a deep look into the former friends’ time making their digital series, “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo,” along with Stephanie Koenig (who also stars in FX’s “English Teacher”). In Vulture’s “Friends Like These” piece, Ebeling recalled two incidents in which he claims he was assaulted by Alvarez — one supposedly under the guise of a hookup in 2015 and another on-set in 2016 where Alvarez was also the director.
Ebeling further stated he has told the story to many people in their shared SoCal comedy scene and even filed an LAPD police report on Sept. 1, the day before “English Teacher” premiered. But Alvarez remembers their experiences as purely consensual.
“Brian Jordan Alvarez’s interactions with Jon Ebeling were always entirely consensual – as numerous witnesses have attested. Indeed, in 2018, two years after this alleged incident, Mr. Ebeling himself unambiguously said as much on tape,” a spokesperson for Alvarez told TheWrap. “For many months, Mr. Ebeling has peddled his falsehoods to anyone who would listen but, when confronted with proof of his duplicity and definitive evidence provided by third parties showing why Mr. Ebeling should not be trusted, numerous media outlets declined to print his outrageous claims. Sadly, New York Magazine displayed no such judgment in its reckless headlong pursuit of publishing a salacious, attention-grabbing article, no matter the truth.”
“As well as minimizing Mr. Ebeling’s taped admission that his relationship with Brian had always been consensual, New York Magazine entirely ignored first-hand testimony about Mr. Ebeling’s history as a perpetrator of scarring acts of assault,” the statement continued. “That’s beyond disappointing and is a deeply troubling reflection on New York Magazine’s ethics — and anyone tempted to republish Mr. Ebeling’s claims should be aware of the risks involved in doing so. Brian is currently taking legal advice as he considers his next steps.”
Koenig is also accused of diminishing Alvarez’s alleged actions despite being romantically tied to Ebeling at the time. She declined to comment to TheWrap and in Vulture’s story.
FX has notably not renewed “English Teacher” for a second season despite its positive reviews. However, they did offer the following comment to TheWrap: “We reviewed the allegations presented to us by another media outlet prior to the show’s launch. Mr. Ebeling never reached out to us with any concerns. We will have no further comment at this time.”
In the Vulture article, Ebeling recounted the alleged on-set incident in detail: “I am assuming nobody on set knows what’s going on under the comforter, and I’m just frozen … I didn’t know what to do. I’m on set with my director, who is assaulting me. It was a horrible feeling.” He continued, “I was like, ‘Wait a second. I didn’t consent to this.’ We didn’t talk about this. I was raped.”
Ebeling also specifically mentioned a 2019 moment between the three of them: “Brian was begging me not to end his career … It was like him turning himself into the victim. I just stood there.”
“English Teacher” is currently available to stream on Hulu. “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo” is available to stream on YouTube.
