Kevin Spacey faced many accusations of sexual assault, starting in 2017, and many of them involved minors.
Trigger warning: The article contains details of sexual assault that may be disturbing.
Back in 2017, one of the biggest Hollywood actors, Kevin Spacey, 61, was accused by actor Anthony Rapp of making a sexual advance towards him when the latter was only 14. At the age of 46, Rapp said that Spacey laid on top of him at a party at his home. Spacey was around 27 in 1986, and trying to "seduce" a minor, as per the claims of Rapp, writes BBC.
However, Spacey responded by saying that he has no memory of the incident but offered an apology to Rapp. "I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years," he said, as per CNN.
He also said that he has dated both men and women and that he "choose[s] now to live as a gay man". However, the actor was criticized for using his sexual orientation to save himself from what was a leery act on his part.
In an interview with Radar Online, US filmmaker Tony Montana accused Spacey of "forcefully" groping him in a Los Angeles bar in 2003. Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos claimed he had "a couple of nasty encounters," bordering on harassment, with the House of Cards actor. There were more accusations from people, who said that the famed actor exposed himself or assaulted them when they were teens, as per BBC.
The number of accusations against him grew in number, and eventually, his talent management agency and publicist dropped him. Netflix, which was producing his hit political drama, also dropped him. Former and current House of Cards crew members reportedly said that he made the workplace a toxic environment.
After five years, the actor has now booked a new acting job for an Italian movie, L'uomo Che Disegnò Dio, according to CNN. The film is directed by and also stars Franco Nero. The cast also includes Nero's wife, Vanessa Redgrave.
"I cast him because he is a great actor," Louis Nero, the film's producer, told CNN in a phone interview on Monday. When Nero was asked about the accusations against Spacey, he said that he believes they were all "false." The filming for the movie has begun and it will be released next year.
However, in 2020, another person who has not been named, said that he was sexually assaulted by Spacey when he was only a teenage boy, reports The New York Times. He had met Spacey in an acting class in Westchester County in the early 1980s. In the lawsuit, the complainant said that Spacey invited his acting student to his apartment and "engaged in sexual acts" on multiple different occasions. In the last encounter, the American Beauty actor assaulted the teenager even though he said "no."
In 2018, Spacey was charged with sexual assault in Nantucket, Massachusetts, when an 18-year-old man claimed that the actor fondled him in a restaurant in 2016. The case was later dropped when the accuser invoked the Fifth Amendment. He didn't want to testify further after Spacey’s lawyer warned that the accuser could face a felony charge if he had deleted evidence from his cellphone.
In 2019, a plaintiff in a civil case — the estate of a deceased massage therapist — also dropped a lawsuit against The Usual Suspects actor. The massage therapist had accused the actor of groping and trying to kiss him.
A lawyer for the latter two accusers, Peter Saghir, said that Spacey was being sued under the Child Victims Act, which was adopted two years ago. It extended New York’s statute of limitations for childhood sex abuse. Unlike the old statute, the victims could now sue until age 55.
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41884878
https://radaronline.com/videos/kevin-spacey-accused-groping-man-bar-sexual-assault/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/movies/kevin-spacey-anthony-rapp-lawsuit.html
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by Scott Eisen
