Los Angeles: Actor Devin Druid has defended the controversial and some would say graphic sexual assault scene from the second season of the teen drama  “13 Reasons Why”.

The season of the controversial Netflix show saw Druid’s character, Tyler Down, brutally assaulted as Montgomery de la Cruz (played by Timothy Granaderos) sodomises him with a mop handle, which garnered criticism from many viewers.

Druid came in support of the graphic depiction of the incident, saying the team has always tried portraying difficult moments without feeling the need to “sugarcoat” or “censor”.

“I think people are always going to have opinions on the show and what we do, but I think it’s staying true to what the show has been about, and that has been taking on these tough issues and trying to show them in these truthful lights,” Druid told Entertainment Tonight.

“We can’t sugarcoat it or censor it at all, because that’s not how these events happen. And I think it is this, trying to portray and make people understand what happens in these unfortunate and tragic circumstances,” he added.

Druid also said it is their responsibility to accurately portray “the pain and humiliation” and stigma around the assault on men on screen.

“As an actor, I felt a lot of responsibility to accurately portray the pain and humiliation that one can go through when they’re assaulted in this way, especially with the stigma around sexual assault with men.

“Especially this age of toxic and fragile masculinity, I think, that plays a big part in this idea of men being raped. It’s not something that people think about a lot,” he said.

Season 3 coming up 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the teenage drama will return next year with 13 new episodes.

The announcement comes less than three weeks after the show, one of the most streamed ones on Netflix, returned for its sophomore season.

The core cast, including Dylan Minnette, Miles Heizer and Alisha Boe, among others – are all expected to return, except Katherine Langford.

Langford, who played the lead Hannah Baker, confirmed her exit from the series after its second season bowed out.

The first season of “13 Reasons Why” explored why Hannah committed suicide and the follow-up instalment saw the aftermath of her death – her ghostly manifestation for Clay (played by Minnette) or his delusions.

Season two ended with Bryce serving only three months of probation after being arrested on charges of felony sexual assault; gearing up to leave Liberty High School and Clay thwarting a mass shooting at the hands of Tyler – a ticking time bomb.

Production will resume later this year.

  crime, Media, Netflix, sexual abuse, TV