Ansel Elgort has denied an accusation of sexual assault made against him.

The 26-year-old actor posted a statement to Instagram on Saturday following an allegation on Twitter by an individual who said that they had been sexually assaulted by him in 2014, when they were 17 and he was 20.

The Baby Driver star said he was “distressed to see the social media posts about [him] that have been circulating in the past 24 hours” and said that the woman’s “description of events is simply not what happened”.

“I have never and would never assault anyone,” he said, but confirmed that he and the girl did have “a brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship”.

“Unfortunately, I did not handle the breakup well. I stopped responding to her, which is an immature and cruel thing to do to someone. I know this belated apology does not absolve me of my unacceptable behavior when I disappeared,” he wrote.

“As I look back at my attitude, I am disgusted and deeply ashamed of the way I acted. I am truly sorry. I know I must continue to reflect, learn, and work to grow in empathy.”

The alleged victim, calling herself Gabby, claimed in a now-deleted tweet that she had private-messaged Ansel on Twitter, before he invited her to message him on his private Snapchat account.

She also shared a photo of what appeared to be herself with the actor and screenshots of some messages she alleged were between her and the star.

The actor is best known for his roles in Baby Driver, The Goldfinch, The Divergent Series and The Fault in our Stars.