Kevin Spacey Continues to Take Low Roads
Monday, October 30, 2017 at 5:07PM by Nathaniel R
a famously cheeky magazine cover from 1997Sigh. How do you solve a problem like Kevin Spacey? The actor's career started off splendidly but soon after those hugely popular double Oscar wins (The Usual Suspects and American Beauty) in the second half of the 1990s, he became rather insufferable both onscreen and as a celebrity. Acting is a subjective art but I personally can't make it through a single episode of House of Cards (I've tried a few times) with that pitched to the rafters hamminess.
The Netflix star has been resisting public admission of his open-secret homosexuality since he became famous. He's let decades go by without comment, while dozens of braver less famous actors took up the challenge and made the world a better place for future generations by coming out.
Now that he's accused of sexual assault by another man he chooses THIS moment to do it? For shame!
Ed Harris, Judith Ivey, and Anthony Rapp in Precious Sons (1986) on Broadway
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1986 Revival) on Broadway with Kevin Spacey and Jack Lemmon
If you haven't been following along the Tony-nominated actor Anthony Rapp (of Rent and Star Trek Discovery fame) accused Kevin Spacey of sexually advances when he was around 14 at a private party thrown by the actor in 1986. At the time Rapp was experiencing a career breakthrough (he was in the play "Precious Sons" on Broadway and was about to make his film debut with Adventures in Babysitting, 1987). Spacey, who was in his mid 20s, was also beginning to get attention with Broadway shows "Hurlyburly" in 1985 and "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in 1986 as well as his film debut in Heartburn (1986).
Spacey's statement
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
Though we firmly believe that LGBT people should come out en masse (unless they live in countries in which that's dangerous), this is the worst possible time for Spacey to do it. Forgive us for being less than generous, but this reads like a passive aggressive attack from Spacey against the LGBT community who have been asking him to come out for years.
To use a sympathetic act like coming out as his shield for despicable behavior is appalling and selfish. He's just given free ammunition to any homophobes as well as major media corporations who never know how to discuss gay issues. Soon we'll see the tired old hateful tropes come to play wherein LGBT enemies and ignorant media will equate homosexuality (which is neither good nor evil but just is... like heterosexuality) with predatory behavior and illegal activities like sex with minors. Spacey has just basically done this himself.
Straight people can have him back; he's no good for us.
P.S. On an not unrelated but frivolous note, we've updated the Best Supporting Actor chart to remove Kevin Spacey's impending prosthetic-makeup-heavy showcased role in All the Money in the World. This story won't help him win any votes.
P.P.S. Also on a possibly unrelated note (word was out that the show was probably ending anyway), though most outlets will frame it as very related, Netflix officially made the announcement today that they're ending House of Cards after its next season airs.
Reader Comments (53)
I had to imdb Anthony Rapp and he was Daryl in ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING around the time. Spacey is a scumbag
While I think his behavior is really disgusting, I am honestly curious how you see this differently than the sexual assault and harassment by Weinstein? How is disagreeing with Weinstein's actions a purity test and disagreeing with Spacey's actions not a purity test?
Despicable. At the time his jokes at the Tonys felt like a half-step, but now just look yet another way he has used his gayness when it is convenient or advantageous for him. Spacey's non-apology is a brazen example of the kind of privilege someone in his position can wield at their whim, and to the detriment of his victims and (especially non-white) LGBTQ people that suffer from the kind of retrograde ideology he invokes here. Agreed wholeheartedly that this statement is a calculated slap to the very people he is performatively trying to align himself.
Anthony Rapp is incredibly brave. Victims deserve better than a media that falls for Spacey's deflective tactics.
First of all: in 1986 Rapp was almost 15 (he was born in 1971) so he could look like he was 15. I know that we talk about the United States but 15 is the age in which sex is almost everywhere legal so... I know that "look" and "was" is not the same but Spacey might have not know that Rapp was a minor. Second: I don't believe in stories that are 30 years old just because they were said by an alleged victim. Proofs are necessary to say that someone was guilty. And third: Spacey did not say that he tried to force himself on Rapp because he was gay. He said that he might have been interested in a man because he is gay. That's completely different and therefore I don't see anything inappropriate in the fact that he came out in this particular moment in time.
I refuse to accept Kevin Spacey as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
What a scumbag. He's Frank Underwood alright.
It's a clear tactic to deflect the story into something else. And it worked! The media was focusing on his sexuality, not the sexual assault accusations. The rumours have been flying around for years so I hope more people come out and end this man's career for good. His statement is only going to protect him once, he won't survive any more accusations.
Even Weinstein had more dignity with him dealing with it. People always claimed he was a private person, but this along with the many times he's joked and winked about the subject makes it obvious he was simply guarding his last resort card for when he had to. His statement is even more gross by how he combines his "sorry I was drunk" with "it's what I do because hey I'm gay."
Between Milo, Spacey, Andy Cohen, Harvey Levin and more it becomes increasingly clear about the dangers of that particular toxic social identity. Like Weinstein, white men who abuse their power and privilege for their benefit, but in this case they use their queerness to distract from the violence they perpetrate. Let's hope the community reacts accordingly and shuns him off.
@Someone
The lowest age of consent in the US is 16. Most people stateside consider a legal adult at 18. Pornography participation stateside is 18 and up only.
@Someone:
To your first point: Anthony Rapp said, in the original Buzzfeed piece, that he was 14 when it happened and "that he looked a lot younger" than that. In any case, Kevin Spacey would have known he was a minor since they had interacted, albeit briefly, before the night in question.
To your second point: in that same story, Rapp mentions telling his boyfriend at the time in 1990, and a close friend in 1992. And many more times after that.
And to your third point: Spacey didn't say either one of those things. He blamed his behaviour on alcohol and then felt he needed to come out to answer the question of why he was pursuing someone who wasn't female, when in fact the issue at hand is why he was forcing himself on a minor (the sex of which is honestly irrelevant).
@ Someone,
your comment is completely defensive, combined with your choice of signature, "someone", it says volumes about people like Kevin Spacey.
What Spacey did is 1) sexual assault + 2) pederasty => yes, he chooses to come out to soften the blow, it's outlandishly obvious.
Was Rapp almost 15 though? He's born in the final quarter of the year. 2 months and 5 days prior to the end of the year.
I can't even imagine how many young gay actors must have suffered sexual harassment or assault, or inappropriate behaviour, and probably even blackmail in the case of closeted ones, by producers, casting agents and wannabe Marlon Brandos like this guy. And my mind goes back in time and starts thinking about the time being gay really killed careers. And I think what Rock Hudson, Montgomery Clift and the like must have gone through back in the day, and I want to vomit.
Do you think this will have a negative impact on Call Me By Your Name,I've never liked Spacey who for me was good in 1 role then Blah.
I only know Rapp from Adventures in Baysitting but bravo to him,for a man of his standing to come forward and say this happened must be the ball that rolls onward.
This is an extremely shallow and insensitive question, but do you think this situation will affect Call Me By Your Name's chances during award season or will it force a constructive dialogue about sex with underage people?
Was Spacey hoping to become a romantic leading man by keeping his sexuality a secret? The rumors about his taste in younger men have been around for decades. His coming out will not win him any gay fans.
With the revelation of this bit of news it seems that the open secret in Hollywood wasn't Kevin Spacey: Homosexual but Kevin Spacey: Pederast because now I'm reading all sorts of salacious accounts of his penchant for teenage boys. The most appalling part is that most of them have been from non-famous people, so I'm positive that genuine celebrities have known for ages and done NO-THING. I mean, it's one thing to idle by while people like Spacey and Weinstein prey on vulnerable adults, but it takes a special brand of terrible person to do the same where kids are involved.
Most of the people I know who work in theater all knew the rumors and the stories about Kevin Spacey's behavior, going back decades. Some of us have heard first-person accounts -
and some of those accounts are stomach-churning. We need to adjust our thinking on this issue even further than we have already, so that more people can come forward. There needs to be a safe space for the people who did NOT reject advances - who went along with it because they didn't feel they were in a position not to, in terms of what it might mean for their careers - to speak their truth, without subjecting them to negative judgement. They are no less victims that the ones who refused.
Yeah, Kevin Spacey's pederasty has been an open secret for decades in NYC theater. It didn't matter that he didn't come out as gay because people knew he was a fucking predator anyway. His statement is just going to further the bigoted belief that all homosexuals are pedophiles and don't deserve rights.
He's the most famous one, but he's not the only one, and it takes a hell of a lot of people to cover up bullshit like this. The industry is pretty toxic and predators are very common with younger actors. I wasn't no prized pig even at my fittest and even I faced some of this shit just by being a young man with a pulse and a desire to act in NYC. It's beyond messed up. I just hope that maybe the tide has turned with the Weinstein reveal and people will seriously start to clean house of people who use their power in the industry to take advantage of less powerful men and women.
Thank you for this post. Coming out after being accused of attempted sex with a minor is bizarre and sends the absolute wrong message about gay people. And what is it with show business people? Get it together.
It also bothered me the way he said "i choose now to live as a gay man," which only gives homophobes reason to continue with the ideology that homosexuality is a choice. And you didn't choose it now, you've been living this way forever.
Pedro it is a legitimate question that lots of people on blogs are asking regarding Wonder Wheel and Call me by your name and any Weinstein projects will be affected,I am talking about the wider impact of all this
Everything about this is highly unpleasant, but I'm not really seeing how he could respond to this without also outing himself. A statement that goes "I was drunk and don't remember doing this and am sorry if I did... but I'm also totally uninterested in having sex with dudes" just doesn't make sense. If he wanted to maintain the illusion of himself as a heterosexual he'd pretty much have to outright deny that this could have possibly happened, which makes him look like even more or a jerk for straight up calling the accuser a liar and make himself look like more of a liar for continuing to deny what's become obvious. So it's a catch-22. He could have certainly spared us the "I want to live openly" language though, this certainly wasn't the time for that.
All the money in the world can't save Spacek now. His career is over! I ustand its a catch-22 situation whr he has to come out of the closet to address the charges, but this is possibly the worst time to do it!
No only it looks like he's deflecting the sexual assault claim, he's giving pple the wrong impression o LGBTQ+!! And the repercussion cld be wide. Films like Call Me by Your Name might be hurt by this mis-association.
"I'm not really seeing how he could respond to this without also outing himself." -- yeah, exactly. He's a shitty person, and this catch-22 was totally brought on by himself. He chose to remain in the closet to capitalize on a heteronormative career. He also chose to be a predator. He doesn't deserve anything other than a catch-22.
Spacey's a scumbag. He's not my people. And he's a one-note actor on top of that. I echo all of the above sentiments.
Slight side question ... apparently Anthony Rapp was unchaperoned at this party? I don't know if this is entirely true (just read it in some articles). But if it is, who the f**k lets their 14-year old son/client/co-star go to an adult party unchaperoned? What kind of a**hole parent/agent/person-attending-said-party puts a 14 year-old in that kind of position?
Spacey’s statement is indefensible.
That said, I’m uncomfortable with the “post-Weinstein” idea that all instances and accusations of sexual harassment from any time in the past involving any famous people should be litigated in the court of public opinion.
I was curious this morning if others would be connecting this story with Call Me By Your Name. A google search brought up an old article of Armie Hammer defending the age gap, where the first paragraph states:
"The age of consent in Italy is between 13 and 16, depending on the age and status of the participants."
http://www.metroweekly.com/2017/10/armie-hammer-responds-depravity-call-names-age-gap/
So, it strikes me as strange that some people will both defend the age gap in this movie by saying "In Italy, the age of consent is 13!" AND be horrified by Kevin Spacey's actions with a 14 year old.
Yes, yes, I realize Timothee's character is 17. You don't have to tell me. But can't we all agree that a film made today focusing on a 24 year old man seducing a 17 year old girl would be setting us back decades?
CharlieG -- you should read the article. Rapp brings up how this might make his (late) mother, who was living in NYC with him at the time of his play, look bad. But 1986 is very different from 2017. People were a lot more naive as a general rule. It's no excuse, but it's an explanation.
Amazing to see the support!!! As MJS said, Spacey had to take this moment to officially come out. And I really don't understand why people are so quick to judge him. You have absolutely no reason to believe that you know HIS reasons for NOT coming out before. And to say that it's about his career - Bullshit! He's a two time Oscar winner WHO was way more famous 15 years ago than now. Today there's more famous actors than Spacey who's openly gay.
Waht a way to show support. It must have something to do with a prejudiced opinion about him.
Why would anyone express support for Spacey waiting for so long to come out and admitting he sexually abused minors? He could have come out earlier and not abused kids if he wanted any respect. I loathe him.
shawshank - If people are going to compare CMBYN to anything to do with Spacey it's coming from a place of ignorance. The difference in the film's case is the relationship is consensual and not assault of a minor by an adult. i'm pretty confident that Rapp did not give his consent to Spacey and he is below the age of consent in the states too.
The two narratives are in no way comparable and it's sure to be which is wrong.
Holy hell. Karina Longworth can do a whole season of You Must Remember This with just a few months' worth of stories from 2017.
The Oscars are gonna be weird.
House of Cards--the title has become that of Spacey's life.
God, LGBT people have enough unfair stigma as it is without Spacey throwing them under the bus as a shield for his predatory behavior.
As an actor who's worked with several child performers over the past 13 years, I assure you that teens often attend cast parties and other social cast functions without their parents or guardians present. These typically are PG-rated gatherings, not drunken orgies, and most adult actors tend to be extremely protective of the children. The question should not be "What was 14-year-old Anthony Rapp doing there?" but instead "Why did 27-year-old Kevin Spacey feel within bounds to put his hands on him?" And even if Rapp shouldn't have been there, that doesn't negate the fact that a grown man assaulted a child, which is not the fault of the child or his mother.
I first want to say that I am not, at all, defending Kevin Spacey’s alleged actions. However, I do have some major concerns about this story. I want to be careful not to seem uncaring about victims of sexual abuse, but my concern is, in short: are we at all worried that an actor’s (or any famous person’s) life and career can be ruined through another person’s Unproven allegations?
In this particular case, Spacey has spoken out and not denied anything, so, fine. But I worry about the man or woman that was a bit famous one time and sees the attention that Rapp or McGowan is receiving and throws out an allegation against an innocent person.
The issue is social media of course. Jon says Joe did something in 140 characters or less and I’m seeing it at the top of every news web site in minutes. At that point, Joe is a criminal and a pariah, and we are his judge and jury.
A new world, indeed.
As others have said, people should read Rapp's original interview on Buzzfeed. It explains how he unwittingly wound up being the only kid at the party (obviously Spacey's intention).
I'm generally wary of social media pile ons but the reason public trials of Weinstein and Spacey and others are happening is because official channels have completely and utterly failed when it comes to addressing sexual harassment and abuse. I only hope the legacy is lasting rather than fleeting change.
Anthony Rapp deserves only praise. It's tough being the first to go public and tough going it alone, although others will surely follow.
Yeah, but what Spacey could have said? The only two options: "look, I'm not guilty because I'm heterosexual and I'm not interested in men" or "yeah, it might have happened that I wanted to have sex with a man because I'm gay/bisexual". So HOW COULD HE NOT COME OUT after this accusation? Yeah, he could have lied (still) but this would be far more pathetic if the true came out later.
IMO all this Internet nonsense of #MeToo is pathetic. People should not accuse anybody in media or social networks - they have courts for this. The courts should decide who is guilty and who isn't. It's not for public opinion to decide.
Especially when people are accused after 30 years or more. How they can defend themselves? (And yeah, they might be not guilty!)
Daisy you write
I'd like to respond to this but i honestly don't know what you're getting at. I have never remotely implied that I agree with Weinstein's actions (good god, no. he's despicable). so i'm at a loss at to what you're referring to.About this subject, I hope everyone read and send this to others - about Kevin Spacey behavior -:
His link with Jeffrey Epstei (Lolita Express):
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/who-is-jeffrey-epstein-a-study-of-the-man-linked-to-worlds-of-celebrity-politics-and-royalty-9954397.html
The photo who come out the internet a fews years ago (look the coment that Former_Manc did - imgur photo -:
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/128oyr/til_that_actor_kevin_spacey_has_kept_his_private/
His behavior on the sets and plays:
http://defamer.gawker.com/people-keep-telling-us-about-kevin-spacey-s-aggressive-1686507320?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
"Another to add to the list—my friend’s uncle works on the production team of House of Cards in D.C., and told my friend recently that Spacey regularly solicits the young (early 20s), male crew members for sex in his trailer. Specifically, the uncle explained to my friend that Spacey “demands” it...whatever that means."
He deserves the jail!
The last link entire:
http://defamer.gawker.com/people-keep-telling-us-about-kevin-spacey-s-aggressive-1686507320
I think what disturbs me the most in the cases of Weinstein and Spacey are ALL the people who afterwards talk about "yes, of course this was happening" and "pretty much an open secret". So do I think these things should play out in the court of public opinion? Generally no, but MAN if the victims aren't being heard or couldn't be heard, what really is their recourse especially if so many people turned blind to these "open secrets"?
Someone needs to take away that queen's two Oscars next. Not here for Spacey's pedo bullshit or his horrible coming out letter.
Well I for one had NO idea that Kevin Spacey was into young guys and would go to m/any lengths to fulfill his desire. I just thought he was a standard issue closeted gay guy, possibly Republican leaning, etc.
Learning this, I'm not surprised that he stayed in the closet so long. That way he was using the general patience of the gay community to help hide all of his behavior. If he was open, he would have to be open about everything. I guess it's harder to chase High School students when people are watching.
Ryan T -- well i dunno. Here's where i get conflicted and where the court of public opinion is so much bullshit. I've noticed that everyone on twitter and blogs and facebook likes to judge people's behavior who were at all "complicit" (once allegations start to feel totally true -- usually when there are enough of them to remove the element of shock that goes with discovering these things) and i have to wonder if everyone has forgotten every exeprience they've ever had in a workplace.
in reality most people wouldn't behave any differently than most of the people involved in any of these stories. People crack me up when they judge Matt Damon for working with Weinstein because Ben Affleck had told him about harrassment of Gwyneth Paltrow and that it had been handled. But if they were matt damon would THEY have given up opportunities for work when their best friend and his girlfriend (the injured party) were still working with the person? I think not.
Workplaces and careers and chains of command and job opportunities and networking are all very complicated things and you simply can't NOT work with everyone you've heard anything "questionable" about (goodbye employment and paying rent!) nor should you believe every bit of gossip you hear about someone.
i dont actually think any of us could have any peace of mind or any reasonable expectation of a social life if we always believed the worst thing we've heard about everyone we meet.
i also think "open secrets" are exaggerated. I think most people knew Kevin Spacey was gay but did they know he was assaulting someone under age at a private party? I think not. Most of the stories I'd heard about Kevin Spacey -- and that i've seen shared on the internet over the years are just about him being aggressive sexually (like inviting younger hot guys -- usually the stories have been college people or waiters to private parties or propositioning them (both of which are much different than assault / underage illegal activities)
and as for Weinstein. everyone knew he was a bully but did people widely know about rapes? No. I certainly had no idea and i've been to parties where he was also in attendance and everyone seemed to fawn on him.
@Nathaniel,
I love you for every word you just wrote.
.
There is only one clear, cut and dry conclusion from this situation: if Kevin Spacey made a unsolicited sexual advance at another human being - and he has yet to deny it, so we can safely assume that he did - he deserves the public condemnation.
The question is whether (like Weinstein) this indiscretion is an example of a pattern of behavior. For me, that makes all the difference between condemning him but allowing him to atone and return to a career and completely banishing him (a la Harvey) forever. A single incident is unforgivable, but I'm not sure I'm willing to support a life sentence for it. A pattern of unwanted sexual advances/assaults is a whole other ballgame...
Speaking of which - in an attempt to defend CMBYN against conflation with the Spacey incident - a comment above mentioned "consent" as the major difference between the two - and why CMBYN doesn't sit in the same space as, err, Spacey. That comment got me to thinking about how very complicated our norms are with relation to age of consent and consent. Would it have made a difference if Rapp outed Spacey but actually consented to his advances? Does it make a moral difference in CMBYN that consent was involved? Only if one is willing to argue that there's a moral difference between having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old vs. a 14/15 year old. And if one argues as such, then one would have to be willing to condemn globally lower ages of consent (for example, in Germany and Italy - the age of consent is 14).
So is it the absence of consent thing or the minor thing or are both?
Really appreciate your well-thought out response, Nathaniel.
A couple of thoughts and no I'm not blaming the victim- but what kind of parent let a 14 year old go to an adults only party by himself? Spacey should have come out sooner but are we suppose to deny his gayness just because his behavior does not fit the current narrative. All gay people are not saints. I agree with Nathaniel with his comment on the court of public opinion.
Nathaniel: Thank you for your wise comments.
Jake: You make a good point.
Spacey always had a thing for much younger men. That's the open secret. That it crept into pursuing underage boys is what was not spread around.