‘Orange Is The New Black’ Star Dascha Polanco Denies That She Assaulted A Teenager
Orange Is The New Black star Dascha Polanco has been accused of assaulting a teenage girl. We haven’t heard much from the star about the matter, until now. The actress, who plays Daya on the hit Netflix series, stopped by Huffington Post Live to talk about her career, and in the midst she wound up having to defend herself in the wake of the allegations that she punched a teenage girl during the summer.
Polanco initially stopped by to promote her new film Joy, where she plays Jennifer Lawrence’s best friend Jackie. The actress was asked about these allegations and if it will have any effect on the upcoming season of Orange Is The New Black.
The question clearly hit a nerve, and the actress paused to take a sip from her mug before answering the question. The actress clearly tried her best to brush it off.
OITNB’s Dascha Polanco breaks her silence on accusations that she assaulted a teenage girl https://t.co/RbHBDqke8b pic.twitter.com/7skNSrtNkb
— Global Grind (@GlobalGrind) December 15, 2015
“That’s what happens when people try to knock you down. Listen I lost the biggest thing in my life, it was my mother. Nobody is going to knock me down — no. It takes more than that. People that know me, that know my quality, and know my professionalism, they’re not worried and neither am I.
“I got a really big team that needs a really big raise. What a time to be alive.”
When the story first broke, Dascha took to Instagram to say her piece:
A photo posted by SHEISDASH (@sheisdash) on
As the Inquisitr reported, if Dascha is charged with a class A misdemeanor, she faces a maximum of one year in jail. It’s said that this alleged altercation happened on July 29, at the 17-year-old girl’s home in Upper Manhattan.
After the incident, Polanco was arrested and then released. According to Page Six, the court documents claim that the Orange Is The New Black star hit the victim in the face and head three times; pulled her hair; and hit her arms with her hands and fingernails. It’s said that the victim was hospitalized after the altercation and suffered “Bruising and redness to her face, scratches to her arms, and substantial pain.”
As of right now, no one knows what caused the alleged altercation between the 17-year-old and Polanco. That said, Polanco and her legal team are sticking by their story that this was a made-up story in an effort to extort money from the actress. Her attorney Gerald Lefcourt said in a statement that he’s more than confident that the charges will be dismissed.
“It’s a set-up to try to get money and it was tape-recorded. This young woman was trying to extort her to drop the case. We’re confident the charges will be dismissed.”
Her next appearance in court is expected to be sometime in 2016.
Aside from this assault charge, things have been going well for Polanco, professionally speaking. The actress is relatively new to the industry, but she’s already made quite the name for herself by appearing in critically acclaimed movies and of course starring in the ensemble dramedy Orange Is The New Black. She has appeared in Gimme Shelter, which was circling the awards circuit back in 2013, and as stated, she acts alongside Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Up next for the actress is The Perfect Match with Terrence J, Cassie Ventura, and Donald Faison.
[Photo by Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images]
