Joe Gatto on March 05, 2024 in New York City. Photo:
Johnny Louis/Getty
TikTok user joozyb posted a series of videos to the platform alleging the comic sexually assaulted her in September 2023
Former Impractical Jokers star Joe Gatto is facing accusations of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman.
In a Thursday, March 20, TikTok video, user joozybsaid, “I got sexually assaulted by Joe Gatto, the Impractical Joker.”
In a separate TikTok video, she detailed how she met the comedian while he was performing in Milwaukee in September 2023. She began the video by explaining that she, her sister, and her mother saw Gatto at a restaurant during brunch and asked to take a photo.
She revealed later that day that she messaged Gatto, now 48, via Instagram in hopes of receiving a free ticket to his comedy show. He then gifted her two show tickets and meet-and-greet tickets to his Milwaukee show at the Pabst Theater. Per his calendar, Gatto was in Milwaukee on Sept. 8, 2023.
After the show, the TikToker – who attended the show alone – took a photo with him at the event and then returned home. She claimed that while she was speaking with her roommate, they were drinking, and she was messaging Gatto via Instagram direct messages. “I was drunk, whatever, and he was texting me all this stuff. And, like, it was starting to get a little weird, you know,” the TikTok user claimed in the video.
She claimed that after their initial conversation, Gatto put the messages in vanish mode. Vanish mode is a setting when users “send each other disappearing messages, photos, videos and other content in Instagram chats” that will disappear when someone leaves the chat or turns the mode off, per Instagram.
She then alleged that he gave her instructions on how to get to his hotel. Upon arrival, she said, “Somebody led me to the elevator, and somebody was on the elevator with me and pressed the button.”
While she did not go into detail about what allegedly happened next between her and Gatto, she alleges “some stuff happened.”
The TikToker then showed an image from the hotel and showed a time stamp of Sept. 9, 2023, at 2:26 a.m., claiming that’s when she left the hotel.
Joe Gatto on October 3, 2019 in New York City.
Johnny Louis/Getty
As she concluded the video, she said, “I’ve been wanting to tell people this for so long. I’ve like, tried in different ways, but it’s hard with somebody this big, [I] come to the realization that if I do say something, that I’m really saying something.”
Before posting the TikTok video detailing the alleged incident, she uploaded a TikTok montage of photos they took together before the alleged encounter and alleged screenshots of their conversations. She then uploaded another TikTok shortly after of just an image of a bruised buttock, which she alleged occurred from the encounter with Gatto.
“Yes he did S.A me. yes he had JUST gotten back together with his wife. I’m sorry you guys don’t want to hear it but,” she captioned the photo TikTok.
Joe Gatto on May 20, 2023 in Miami, Florida.
Johnny Louis/Getty
Gatto announced in January 2022 via an Instagram post that he was exiting the popular truTV hidden camera television series after a decade “due to some issues in my personal life.”
“Alongside my friends, I’ve devoted a decade of my life to building this franchise and couldn’t be prouder of what has been accomplished. However, due to some issues in my personal life, I have to step away,” he continued. He also noted that he and his wife, Bessy Gatto, “decided to amicably part ways” following their 2013 marriage.
Since that initial announcement, Joe and wife Bessy announced in September 2023 that they got back together.
