Spacey’s apology about advance stirs backlash
NEW YORK — The fallout facing Kevin Spacey widened Monday following an accusation that he allegedly made sexual advances on a teen boy, with Netflix pulling the plug on his hit show “House of Cards” and “deeply troubled” producers of the political thriller arriving on set to comfort castmates.
Executives from Netflix and the show’s producer, Media Rights Capital, said they arrived in Baltimore, where the show is shot, on Monday to make sure actors and crew “continue to feel safe and supported.” Spacey was not scheduled to be on set on Monday.
Though the decision to end the series was announced on Monday, the decision to pull the plug was made several months ago, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Spacey is the latest Hollywood man to be named in widening allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in entertainment, media and other industries. The avalanche of allegations began earlier this month after the New York Times published a story alleging that producer Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed numerous women.
In an interview published by BuzzFeed News on Sunday, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that he was attending a party at Spacey’s apartment in 1986 when inebriated 26-year-old Spacey picked him up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him. Rapp, then 14, was able to get away without any physical harm.
Spacey responded on Twitter by saying he doesn’t remember the alleged encounter but if he acted the way Rapp alleges, “I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
Spacey then said Rapp’s story “encouraged” him to address long-simmering rumors about his sexuality. He wrote that he’s had romantic relationships with both men and women in the past but is now living “as a gay man” and wanted to be honest so he could examine “my own behavior.”
The two-paragraph statement — an apology in the first for a 31-yearold alleged assault and a self-outing in the second — struck many as an odd time for Spacey to address his sexuality or even an attempt to deflect blame. Worse, he seemed to make a connection between being gay and sexual abuse of minors.
“Kevin Spacey really tried to throw the entire LGBT community under a bus and call it solidarity in an effort to mask his personal failings,” wrote civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson on Twitter. Actor Zachary Quinto called Spacey’s outing “a calculated manipulation to deflect attention from the very serious accusations.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the gay rights group GLAAD said in a statement that the story was really about unwanted sexual advances on Rapp not Spacey’s sexuality. “Coming out stories should not be used to deflect from allegations of sexual assault,” she said.
Rapp cited the dozens of Weinstein accusers as the reason he recounted his encounter with Spacey.