Video of Ansel Elgort Booed During 'West Side Story' Screening Goes Viral

Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story has hit theaters, and despite rave reviews thus far, one controversial element is the casting of Ansel Elgort in one of the lead roles.

Now a clip of the actor's name being booed during a screening of the movie is going viral.

Posted to Twitter by user @brettfrasco the clip has amassed more than 100,000 views and at the time of publishing.

"west side story good ansel elgort bad," the caption reads.

Elgort stars as leading man Tony in the iconic musical, opposite newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria.

So why is Elgort being booed?

The 27-year-old actor has been keeping a low profile since sexual assault allegations emerged against him last summer.

In June 2020, a woman claimed on Twitter that Elgort "sexually assaulted" her when she was 17 years old and he was aged 20.

"I was just a kid and was a fan of him," the woman, with the Twitter handle @Itsgabby explained and claimed that they began speaking over Snapchat, per Variety.

"So when it happened, instead of asking me if I wanted to stop having sex, knowing it was my first time and I was sobbing in pain and I didn't want to do it, the only words that came out of his mouth were 'we need to break you in.'"

The next day, Elgort denied the allegations and said he had a consensual relationship with the woman.

"I cannot claim to understand Gabby's feelings but her description of events is simply not what happened," he said in a response posted to Instagram, and "I have never and would never assault anyone."

"Gabby and I had a brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship," Elgort said and apologized for his past actions and how he ended his relationship with the woman

"As I look back at my attitude, I am disgusted and deeply ashamed of the way I acted," the Baby Driver star said at the time.

Now, in West Side Story, Elgort's performance as Tony is failing to inspire critics.

The Guardian writes that the actor is "flat-footed" and "struggles to breathe much life into Maria."

While The New York Times suggests that the two leads "don't fully inhabit the grand, life-altering (and -ending) passion that their roles require."

In The Atlantic, Elgort gets mild praise but the reviewer says that ultimately he is "a little flimsy when it comes to the big, tragic emotions of the film's final act."

The sexual assault allegations against Elgort have not been addressed by any of the cast and crew of the movie.