Spacey: Film chiefs blocking my career
Kevin Spacey has alleged film bosses are blocking his acting career, in the face of public support.
Last week, the actor denied new allegations of inappropriate behaviour from men who featured in a two-part Channel 4 documentary titled Spacey Unmasked.
The documentary comes after he was acquitted of a number of sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013 at a trial in London and won a US civil lawsuit after being accused of an unwanted sexual advance at a party in 1986.
He told the Telegraph:
“I do think the British public are more mature than Channel 4, and I believe every time I have come back to London we are stopped by so many people who are so kind and say such generous things.
“And if there was a theme to what they are talking about it is this: ‘When are you going back to work? This has gone too far.’”
The star previously said he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to respond to the allegations made about him and said the broadcaster refused.
It was alleged that a number of acting offers for Spacey could now be in jeopardy as a result of the documentary.
Kevin Spacey is a brilliant actor and a double Oscar winner who has inspired many thousands of young men over decades and who almost singlehandedly rescued the Old Vic Theatre in London.
Last week, in a television series of which I was one of the executive producers, he was also revealed to have behaved in sexually inappropriate ways towards young men over several decades. Ten men went on-screen, speaking to camera, to talk about the deeply unpleasant experiences they suffered.
I believe those men are themselves inspiring. They have dared to speak about a problem which is generally ignored and sometimes the subject of sniggering and mockery. No decent person would any longer laugh about a woman being groped or turn a blind eye if they saw inappropriate behaviour towards a woman at work. But men’s experiences of this sort are barely spoken of. It’s time that changed.
Men too need their #Metoo moment.
What I discovered in the making of these programmes was how similar men’s feelings are to those of women when they experience this sort of behaviour. The men we talked to said they felt denigrated, humiliated and “small”. Two of the men were former marines whose friends said later that they would have punched any man who committed those acts. But these men said that, on the contrary, they felt so shocked and vulnerable that violence never struck them. They also felt a great sense of disappointment because Spacey had indicated he thought they were talented actors and he could potentially help them with their careers. Afterwards, they felt stupid and ashamed.
All those emotions are so familiar to us as women. Several times in my life I have thought: “How did I get myself into this situation? How utterly stupid I have been!” Then I have had to remind myself that it is not me who should be ashamed, it is the shameful man.
One of the men we interviewed, who was just going about his job in the theatre when he was touched by Spacey, said someone had commented afterwards: “Lucky you!” He asked if anyone would say that to a woman.
As women we have suffered this sort of behaviour from men, so we should be leading voices in standing up for men. Where workplaces have policies against harassment, employers should make clear those policies apply to women and men and encourage men to speak out too. We should never turn a blind eye and never joke about behaviour like this just because it involves two men.
I have learned that young men may be physically stronger than young women but they can feel just as shocked and upset as young women.
Last year, Spacey was acquitted of sexual assault on three men.
In response to the allegations in the films, Spacey said he had been provided with insufficient time and detail to respond to the testimonies.
He said: “I have consistently denied – and successfully defended – numerous allegations made both in the US and UK, both criminal and civil, and each time have been able to source evidence undermining the allegations and have been believed by a jury of my peers.”
Mama Cass
One of the most famous stories ever told about “Mama” Cass Elliot was a complete lie.
It didn’t help that the singer herself repeated it in scores of interviews. As the spiel goes, Cass became the last singer hired for the Mamas and Papas only after she got smacked on the head by a pipe during a construction project.
“It’s true,” she insisted to Rolling Stone in 1968. “I had a concussion and went to the hospital. I had a bad headache for about two weeks and then, all of a sudden, I was singing higher.”
The “new” sound she supposedly produced was what allegedly convinced group’s leader John Phillips to finally bring her into the fold, creating what became one of the most famous four-way harmony groups in pop history.
In fact, the real reason Phillips didn’t initially want to hire the clearly gifted Cass was simply because he thought she was too overweight to be part of a viable pop group. “The fact that she felt she had to perpetuate a false story shows the depth of what she felt she had to hide,” said Owen Elliot-kugell, the singer’s daughter who has written a new book titled My Mama, Cass. “The truth was just too painful.”
Even with that cover story to shield her, Cass experienced relentless fatshaming throughout the group’s career.