Outer Banks star Rudy Pankow defends girlfriend, Elaine Siemek from online hate

Rudy Pankow, known as JJ in Netflix's original series "Outer Banks," shared a photo on Instagram with girlfriend Elaine Siemek, an assistant on the Netflix show.

Pankow first mentioned Siemek on social media in November 2020, wishing her a happy birthday. There was no confirmation on when they officially began dating.

In Rudy Pankow's Instagram post, he addressed many fans who previously criticized Siemek and accused her of dating Pankow because of his fame. Fans also accused Elaine of being racist and abusive towards Rudy Pankow.

"Unfortunately I'm here to call out the disrespect and harassment someone who I love dearly is getting on a daily basis. It has gotten to the degree where lies are being spread and accusations are being said that go beyond the normal "hate." Not only is she not what she is being accused of being, she is the complete opposite and actively is so. Accusing someone you don’t know of being abusive and manipulative is not ok, especially when you don’t know the relationship personally."

Pankow continued in his post, stating that he was happy in the relationship he was in and that it was time for fans to stop creating negative opinions about Siemek.

His post was shared on August 5th and has received over two million likes and 14k comments. Many of Rudy Pankow's co-stars agreed with Pankow's speech. Charles Esten, who plays Ward Cameron on "Outer Banks," said:

"Well said, my friend. All the love and light you deserve to you both."

Fans react to Rudy Pankow's thoughtful post for Siemek

Rudy Pankow's post was reposted on Instagram by user defnoodles and has received over ten comments on the situation. Many users were in support of Rudy Pankow defending Elaine Siemek.

One user commented: