Theatre tells of Spacey’s ‘cult of personality’
Theatre says star status stopped staff reporting actor’s behaviour
The Old Vic allowed a “cult of personality” to form around Kevin Spacey that prevented staff from reporting him, the London theatre has admitted, after 20 men came forward to claim they were victims of his inappropriate behaviour.
Fourteen of the allegations were so serious that they could constitute criminal behaviour and the complainants had been advised to contact police, it said.
Spacey was artistic director of the south London theatre from 2004 to 2015. When stories emerged in the United States last month about the Oscar-winning actor’s behaviour, the Old Vic initially said it had never received a complaint against him.
However, a stream of allegations has since emerged, ranging “from behaviour that made people feel uncomfortable to sexually inappropriate behaviour”, the theatre said.
The majority of alleged incidents took place within the theatre building, including the bar and rehearsal spaces.
Of the complainants, 16 are former staff members while the other four came into contact with Spacey “in ways that related to the theatre”.
A report commissioned by the theatre said: “During [Spacey’s] tenure, the Old Vic was in a unique position of having a Hollywood star at the helm around whom existed a cult of personality.
“The investigation found that his stardom and status at the Old Vic may have prevented people, and in particular junior staff or young actors, from feeling that they could speak up or raise a hand to help.”
One of the men did inform a manager of his concerns at the time, but was ignored.
Richard Miskella, of legal firm Lewis Silkin, who led the investigation on behalf of the theatre, said: “We have one testimony which said that an individual said to the manager, ‘Look, something has happened’, and that manager didn’t do anything about it.” They did not name the manager in question, so the grievance cannot be taken further.
Miskella said there were “pockets of the Old Vic in which knowledge or suspicion was greater than others”. The report noted that “staff who observed [Spacey’s] behaviour . . . did not feel confident that the Old Vic would take those allegations seriously given who he was”.
The theatre’s executive and board of trustees insisted they knew nothing of the rumours about Spacey, who came out as gay last month in response to an allegation that he had made sexual advances towards a 14-year-old boy in 1986.
Matthew Warchus, who succeeded Spacey as artistic director, said: “The rumours I encountered were to do with his sexuality, but nothing beyond that.” Sally Greene, the chief executive and founding director of the Old Vic, hired Spacey but has distanced herself from him in recent days.
“I would not consider myself ever to have been close to him on a personal level,” she said in a statement issued via her personal spokesman, adding that she was “shocked and appalled” to learn of any allegations. She did not attend the launch of the report into the investigation yesterday.
However, Mark Shenton, lead critic and associate editor of The Stage, said the Old Vic board had also been in thrall to Spacey.
“They say that they didn’t know any of this. It was to their benefit not to notice it,” he said, adding that there had been “a failure of governance”.
Spacey was informed about the investigation but had not responded, said Kate Varah, the theatre’s executive director. She apologised “wholeheartedly to the people who told us they had been affected”.
Investigators searched the inboxes
of some staff members but said they could not access Spacey’s email account due to “data protection issues”, she added.
The theatre is bringing in a new code of conduct with clear guidance regarding meetings late at night or involving alcohol. It is also establishing a “guardians committee” whose members will be a safe point of contact for staff to report concerns.
Roberto Cavazos, a Mexican actor who worked at the Old Vic, has claimed that “it only took a male under 30 to make Mr Spacey feel free to touch us”.
Spacey has not responded to his claims and the theatre said it would not comment on individual cases.
Spacey’s career is in tatters after a series of allegations against him. The first was made last month by Anthony Rapp, a former child actor, who said he was 14 when Spacey made sexual advances towards him.
Spacey said he did not remember the incident, but offered his “sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour”.
As the allegations continued to surface, Netflix announced it was cancelling the hit political drama House of Cards, in which Spacey starred.
The star was also due to feature in a new film from director Sir Ridley Scott, but has been excised from the project and replaced by Christopher Plummer, who will re-shoot Spacey’s scenes.
They say that they didn’t know any of this. It was to their benefit not to notice it. Mark Shenton