Ridley Scott says not to rule out a Harvey Weinstein comeback attempt
Sir Ridley Scott has not ruled out the return of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to the film industry.
The director spoke as he promoted his new film All The Money In The World, which saw him re-shoot scenes after the film’s original leading man, Kevin Spacey, was replaced by Christopher Plummer in the wake of assault allegations.
Film producer Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of women over the past few months.
While discussing Spacey’s possible return to acting, Sir Ridley said: “Never say never, I’ve no idea. I’m sure Harvey [Weinstein] will already have a go within a year.”
He continued: “Do we ever talk about forgiveness? Or is forgiveness now out of that question? I don’t know.”
Spacey, 58, was dropped from his role in Sir Ridley’s latest film after he was accused of sexual assault of a minor.
The House Of Cards actor, cast as billionaire J Paul Getty in the film, was sacked after Anthony Rapp said he was 14 when Spacey, then 26, made a sexual advance to him in 1986.
A string of other claims followed. The Old Vic theatre, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004-15, found 20 people who claimed they had been subjected to inappropriate behaviour from the actor.
Sir Ridley, 80, said he did not hesitate to erase Spacey from the film, saying: “I knew enough about him over the years, gossip and things.”
He added: “It’s his business what he gets up to, it only becomes the business of other people if it involves kids and things like that, then it’s not on.”
Sir Ridley said he had not been nervous about hiring Spacey for the role, despite hearing “gossip”.
The Alien and Blade Runner director said following the allegations against Spacey, he “looked towards the solution of the problem”.
The director said he originally had Plummer, 88, in mind for the role as well as Spacey, but chose Spacey because he was younger, saying: “The film is pretty challenging, there are a lot of scenes, a lot of dialogue. So I went with youth, wrongly.”