A TikToker, username joozyb, has raised serious allegations of sexual assault against the former Impractical Jokers star and comedian Joe Gatto. In multiple videos posted to the site, joozyb claims that Gatto assaulted her back in September 2023, the same month he and his estranged wife reconciled.
Videos by Wide Open Country
In a Thursday, March 20, TikTok video posted by joozyb, as reported by PEOPLE, after alleging Joe Gatto had sexually assaulted her, the woman described how she met Gatto back in 2023. It all started, reportedly, after the woman, alongside her mother and sister, met Gatto at a restaurant in Milwaukee back in September 2023.
Later that very same day, the woman contacted Gatto via Instagram, in the hopes of getting tickets to his show. She got what she asked, and she received two show tickets as well as two meet-and-greet tickets to Gatto's show at the Pabst Theater on September 8, 2023.
The woman met Gatto once again, taking a picture with him (she shared the photos on TikTok). After returning home, while drinking with a roommate, she began messaging Gatto again. "I was drunk, whatever, and he was texting me all this stuff," joozyb claims. "And, like, it was starting to get a little weird, you know."
Alleged Sexual Assault
As the conversation changed in tone, the woman claimed Gatto enabled "vanish mode," which entails enabling disappearing messages, photos, and videos. It was then that, as per the woman, Gatto began giving her instructions on how to get to his hotel. Upon arrival, someone directed her to what appeared to be Gatto's room. "Somebody led me to the elevator, and somebody was on the elevator with me and pressed the button," the woman claimed.
The woman didn't go into details on what happened next, but did say that "some stuff happened." Moreover, she also shared a photo she took from the hotel, showing a timestamp of September 9, 2023, at exactly 2:26 a.m.
"I've been wanting to tell people this for so long," the woman added. "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."
Reconciliation?
In one of the photos she shared, joozyb said that Joe Gatto did, in fact, sexually assaulted her. Moreover, she claimed that the alleged sexual assault took place only days after he announced he had reconciled with his estranged wife, Bessy Gatto.
On September 2, 2023, just a week before the alleged sexual assault took place, Joe Gatto shared the news of their reconciliation on Instagram.
"I'm happy and hopeful that we will be able to get a few more in because we have proven with compassion, forgiveness and an open heart we can do this," he wrote.
In January 2022, Joe Gatto announced he was stepping down from his role in Impractical Jokers.
"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," Gatto wrote. "However, due to some issues in my personal life, I have to step away."
In that very same post, Gatto announced his separation from his way. "Bessy and I have decided to amicably part ways, so now I need to focus on being the best father and co-parent to our two incredible kids," he wrote.
