Di Toro, who met with BuzzFeed in the living room of her small New York City apartment, knew why her story was so complicated — fodder for people who believe women cry rape as an excuse for drunken mistakes. She knew she was complicated — a woman with a longtime boyfriend who had consensual, sexually charged conversations with another man.
But whoever she is and whatever she did, Di Toro's story is still one of an everyday encounter gone terribly wrong, and of the brutal consequences for people who level accusations against powerful public figures. And for the first time since the incident, she wanted to tell it — not to a family member, friend, cop, or counselor, but to the people who may know her as "Shady Lady."
"I've gotten to a point in my life where I realize that I didn't do all that I could have done to stand up for myself," said Di Toro, now 31, a petite brunette from a big Long Island family. "I was always like a puny little thing, but I always stood up for myself … And I didn't this time. And it's eaten away at my core every day."
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Kelly requested time off from his show, Fox 5's Good Day New York, and cooperated with the district attorney's investigation. But outside the DA's office, a public conclusion based on leaked information appeared to be forming in his favor. In February 2012, when the DA's sex crimes unit chief sent a letter to Kelly's lawyer declaring her office's investigation found "no criminal charges [were] appropriate," the Post was the first to drop its identity protection. Two days later, a photo of Di Toro on a cruise, taken from her Facebook, was on the front page; "Shady Lady," the paper screamed, as the sun cast shadows on her dark features. "Ms. Di Toro is not a victim of a sex crime," editor Col Allen later said in an article defending the Post's coverage.
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"The first words out of my mouth were, 'So, he raped you?'" Angela later said. Di Toro still didn't believe it.
On Monday, Columbus Day, Kelly called Di Toro in the late morning, she said, and they talked about how drunk they both were on Saturday. He asked if she had a good time, Di Toro said, and she replied that she didn't remember. He allegedly told her some graphic details, including ejaculating on her chest and trying to put his penis down her throat, but that she wasn't "having any of it." According to Di Toro, Kelly asked if she wanted to "fuck again," and she "croaked out, 'Yeah, sure.'"
Two days later, Di Toro talked to Greg Kelly on the phone again; she told him that Laros knew everything and that her world "had been turned upside down." She asked if he ejaculated inside her, and he allegedly said no. She asked if he put something in her drink, and he said he was uncomfortable with her questions and didn't like where the conversation was going.
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On the night of Oct. 31, Di Toro said, she learned she was pregnant. She said she called Kelly, leaving voicemails on his work and cell phones, and texted him about three times, telling him that Laros had a vasectomy, so it was "beyond a shadow of a doubt" Kelly's baby, and that she didn't "know where to turn." Over the next few days, Di Toro said she texted Kelly about three more times, telling him that she was going to a clinic to confirm the pregnancy, that she had an appointment for an abortion, and that she would keep updating him until "all was taken care of." Kelly didn't respond.
