Accomplished ballet dancer, Alexa Maxwell, is a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. She has been with the company since 2013. Unrelated to her successful career in dance, she is also the longtime girlfriend of Amar Ramasar. Mr. Ramasar is currently embroiled in controversy surrounding his casting in the Broadway revival of West Side Story.

Ahead of the second protest in front of the Broadway Theatre tonight, Ms. Maxwell submitted the following statement to OnStage Blog to provide information on the situation and to defend Mr. Ramasar. She says:

“While the media attention of Amar’s actions in relation to Alexandra Waterbury’s case has been escalating in recent days, it is time I speak out and speak up to set some important things straight. With a demonstration planned for this evening in front of the Broadway Theater to protest Amar’s role in the current production of West Side Story, I want to share my story so that the public is clear.

Shortly after her lawsuit was filed, I had an hour-long phone conversation with Alexandra Waterbury who urged me to join her lawsuit because (according to her) New York City Ballet “is worth half a billion dollars” and I “would win, and win, like, a lot” and “could literally have an entirely new life.” I explained to Alexandra that I had no interest in that and that New York City Ballet and all of its people love and support me. I told Alexandra again and again that I love Amar; Amar is a genuinely good person and he has always treated me well.

The only photograph that was shared by Amar was of me, his girlfriend of nearly five years. I knew about the photos of me when they were taken, and while sharing it privately with a close friend was a misstep in judgment, Amar immediately told me when he sent them to Chase and his sincerest regrets have led us to today, where we reside together and are building a loving and happy relationship. The incident was a personal matter between me and Amar, and I am okay with what happened.

In the entire hour-long conversation Alexandra never said that Amar ever had done anything to her other than on one occasion receiving intimate photos of her from her boyfriend, Chase. That’s it.

On social media, Alexandra and other people out there have recklessly tossed around phrases like “rapist,” “sexual predator,” and “pedophile” when referring to Amar. Amar never raped anyone -- and Alexandra in her lawsuit does not allege that he did. Amar is not a sexual predator -- and Alexandra in her lawsuit does not allege that he is. And Amar is no pedophile -- and Alexandra in her lawsuit does not allege anything like that. And while Alexandra in her lawsuit makes allegations about group texts in which men spoke of women in horrible terms, Amar was not a participant in those group texts, and Alexandra does not allege that he was.

I am not a victim in this and no longer wish for my truth to be misrepresented. It is not my mission to diminish the feelings of Alexandra’s but I want to bring to light some facts that have been misrepresented across multiple platforms.”

I spoke with Ms. Maxwell who reiterated to me that her intention was to make sure all the facts were made public.

Alexandra Waterbury (Jeenah Moon for The New York Times)

Speaking with Alexandra Waterbury regarding Ms. Maxwell’s statement, she did confirm that she mentioned a potential award of money to Ms. Maxwell and other alleged victims but says she did it because joining this lawsuit could result in being fired from their jobs and being blacklisted in the ballet community. The potential financial settlement could help lessen the financial blow for speaking out.

Ms. Waterbury maintains that her lawsuit and efforts have never been about money. She told me that Chase Finlay, through his lawyer, had offered her $100,000 to keep quiet about the incident. She turned it down.

She also said her initial settlement offer to the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet was to just pay her legal fees and publicly apologize.

“I just wanted someone to be held accountable for this,” she told me.

The School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet both turned down the offer.

So according to the New Yorker, in August Ms. Waterbury’s “lawyer filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the pain and humiliation she had suffered, together with the damage to her reputation and, therefore, to her job prospects.”

When asked about Ms. Maxwell’s additional comments, Mrs. Waterbury replied,

“It’s sad that she has to defend Amar this way.”

This is an ongoing story that we will update as more information becomes available.

Member of New York City Ballet Speaks Out Amidst the WEST SIDE STORY Controversy

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