“Impractical Jokers” star Joe Gatto denies sexual assault allegation however admits to ‘poor judgment’

Former Impractical Jokers star Joe Gatto has spoken out after being accused of sexual assault.

Following a March 20 video from TikTok person Joozyb, who claimed, "I received sexually assaulted by Joe Gatto, the Impractical Joker," the comic has denied the allegation.

"I’ve used poor judgment and, in consequence, have violated the belief of the folks I like most," Gatto stated in an announcement to Leisure Weekly. "However anybody who is aware of me in any respect is aware of full effectively that I wouldn't assault anybody. Engaged on myself is an ongoing course of, and I’m now going to take a while away from the general public eye to focus my energies the place I have to."

Gatto, a founding member of truTV's hit prank present Impractical Jokers, departed the collection in 2021, citing "some points in my private life" and noting that he and his spouse Bessy had "determined to amicably half methods." The couple later reconciled in 2023.

In a collection of TikTok movies, Joozyb detailed assembly Gatto at a Milwaukee restaurant in September 2023 and claimed that he gave her two meet-and-greet tickets to his present on the Pabst Theater that evening.

Providing screenshots of their dialog, she claimed that after the present they continued speaking all through the evening, ultimately placing their messages in vanish mode, a setting that enables Instagram customers to ship one another "disappearing messages, photographs, movies" that go away when somebody leaves the chat or turns the mode off.

She alleged that in these short-term messages, he offered instructions to his lodge, the place she met him later within the evening. In a separate submit, she shared a graphic photograph of bruises on her bottom, writing, "Sure, he did S.A me. Sure, he had JUST gotten again collectively along with his spouse. I'm sorry you guys don't wish to hear it, however…"

Gatto was at one level a mainstay of the comedy collection, co-starring alongside fellow founding members James Murray, Brian Quinn, and Sal Vulcano. The quartet even took their present to the massive display screen with Impractical Jokers: The Film earlier than Gatto's departure.

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Impractical Jokers is at the moment on its eleventh season and now airs on TBS. Earlier this 12 months, Gatto informed The Wrap that he has no plans to return to the present, both completely or as a visitor host.

"I’m not going to visitor alone present. It doesn’t really feel proper, and I can not decide to coming again to it," Gatto stated in January. "I've moved on from the present; the present has moved on from me. I’m so faraway from it. We’re nonetheless associates, simply not associates from work anymore. However I’m so out of that mindset."

Extra reporting by Wesley Stenzel.

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