Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘SUSPEND BBC STAR OVER RAPE CLAIMS’
Pressure grows as Ed Westwick accused and Spacey probe escalates
THE BBC is under pressure to pull hit comedy White Gold after police began investigating star Ed Westwick for sexual assault.
Los Angeles detectives have taken over the case after actress Kristina Cohen, 27, made a report accusing the British actor of rape.
Westwick, 30, has denied the allegation, saying he does not even know her.
Ms Cohen’s police report says: “Suspect forced victim to have sexual intercourse inside his residence…”
Westwick, who became a star after appearing in hit US TV show Gossip Girl, is filming the second series of BBC2 comedy White Gold.
He is also set to star in the Beeb’s Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas. Now the corporation is under pressure to act after Radio 5 Live star George Riley was suspended over lesser allegations of sexual harassment.
In a lengthy Facebook post on Monday, Ms Cohen said the alleged rape happened while she was visiting Westwick with her then-boyfriend, who is not named, but referred to as a producer who was friends with the actor.
But Westwick said: “I do not know this woman.
“I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape.”
Meanwhile, a former US news anchor yesterday accused Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting her teenage son.
Heather Unruh told reporters the actor had bought her son “drink after drink” at a restaurant in Massachusetts in July 2016, before allegedly sticking his hand down the 18-year-old’s pants and grabbing his genitals.
It is the latest accusation against Spacey, who is being investigated by UK police over an alleged sexual assault in Lambeth, South London, in 2008.
Ms Unruh told reporters: “To Kevin Spacey, I want to say this, ‘Shame on you for what you did to my son’. Nothing could have prepared my son for how that sexual assault would make him feel as a man.”
She said her son had not reported the alleged assault at the time because he was embarrassed. He filed a report with police last week.
Nantucket police chief Bill Pittman said Massachusetts law does not allow them to confirm or deny a report of sexual assault. A lawyer for Spacey was contacted for comment. The Mirror reported yesterday how, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the BBC is probing a flood of sexual harassment allegations after asking victims to come forward.
Bosses are looking into the behaviour of 25 people, some facing multiple claims. They are said to include popular BBC stars.
Beeb deputy director general Anne Bulford had said: “We have 25 live cases at the moment, which is a range of different issues coming through.”
She told MPS on Wednesday: “All the time we are encouraging people to step forward. You perhaps won’t be surprised to know we have a spike at present. More than we have seen over three years.”