KEVIN’S fall from GRACE
THE HOUSE OF CARDS ACTOR IS ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
The times are changing in Hollywood. Kevin Spacey (58) is the latest high-profile actor to face allegations of sexual misconduct, as more issues come to light about the treatment of actors in the industry.
The two-time Academy Award winner is facing a rapid fall from grace, due to allegations made by Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp (46). He says the star made a sexual advance towards him in 1986, when he was 14 years old and Kevin was 26.
At the time, both actors were starring on Broadway in the successful shows Precious Sons and Long Day’s Journey into Night, when Kevin invited Anthony back to a party at his Manhattan apartment.
According to Anthony, upon realising he was the only non-adult there, he retreated to the actor’s bedroom to watch TV for several hours. Kevin later appeared at the bedroom door after the party had ended, swaying like he was drunk, he alleges.
“He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold... And then he lays down on top of me,“alleges Anthony.
“He was trying to seduce me. I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.“
Anthony says he managed to leave the apartment before anything further happened, but felt encouraged to reveal the event that has troubled him much of his life after actresses came out denouncing the behaviour of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein (65).
Kevin’s response to the allegations on Twitter – stating that he did not remember the incident – led him to address decades-old speculation that he is gay.
Kevin wrote, “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 behaviour, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years. This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life,“he said in his tweet. “I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man.“
Tellingly, both the LGBTQI community and Hollywood have come out swinging, slamming the House of Cards actor for diminishing the accusation of sexual assault by choosing that moment to reveal his sexuality.
Already, Netflix has announced they will be cancelling House of Cards, of which Kevin is the star, in light of the allegations, while the International TV Academy has said Kevin will no longer receive its 2017 International Emmy Founders Award.
Back in 2004, Kevin’s estranged brother Randall Fowler (62) alleged the siblings grew up with a Nazi-supporting father who whipped his children and sexually abused him. While Kevin hasn’t addressed those claims, he will no doubt be forced to share more details of his life that until now he had been private about.
‘I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago’