Kevin Spacey’s life may soon be falling down like a house of cards. The famed actor from ‘House of Cards’ and other television shows and films is facing a daunting string of sexual misconduct charges, some of which may involve people who were minors at the time of the alleged crimes.
Anthony Rapp was the first person to come forward in October 2017. He alleged in a Buzzfeed interview that Spacey made sexual advances on him when he was a mere 14 years old. The crime is alleged to have occurred in Spacey’s apartment more than 30 years ago at a party.
Rapp alleges that at the end of the party, a drunk Spacey picked him up, put him on his bed and got on top of him. Rapp said that Spacey, only 26 at the time, was holding him down against his will, but the young man was able to escape and leave the apartment.
Spacey responded in the media to the accusations quickly. His written statement was as follows:
“I’m beyond horrified to hear this story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago.”
“But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”
Spacey then went on to say that he is living today as a gay man. He was slammed for that announcement because he was making a normal statement about sexual orientation while addressing a sex crime allegation.
But Rapp’s allegations seemed to have opened the floodgates on Spacey. Days later, actor Robert Cavazos wrote on Facebook that he ran into Spacey at the bar of London’s Old Vic Theatre. There Spacey was the artistic director from 2004 until 2015. There, Cavazos alleged, the actor attempted to grope him against his will.
Cavazos stated on Facebook that it was common for Spacey to grope people at this bar, but the actor claims that he would not allow Spacey to touch him. He added that many people were afraid to say anything because Spacey might hurt their career. He added that he thought that Spacey routinely was preying upon young male actors at the theater. Cavazos said that you only had to be a male under 30 for Spacey to feel it was ok to touch you.
Next, filmmaker Tony Montana accused Spacey of groping him in 2003 at a bar in LA. Montana said that he went to the bar to get a drink and Spacey put his arm around him. He says Spacey told him to leave the bar with him, and then, he alleges, Spacey grabbed his crotch.
Non-actors seemed to have garnered Spacey’s attention as well. A barman in Great Britain stated a few days later that the actor approached him as he was taking a cigarette break while working at a hotel in West Sussex. The barman, Daniel Beal, stated last month that he was 19 years old at the time, and was sitting on a bench, when Spacey flashed his privates at him. Beal said that Spacey tried to get him to touch his privates at that point.
Second man accuses Kevin Spacey of sexual assault: He 'grabbed my whole package' https://t.co/X6tenZZr8Q pic.twitter.com/Sty9leL6gN
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) November 1, 2017
Beal refused, and when he went back to work, Spacey allegedly gave him a watch worth close to $10,000. Beal said that he thought that Spacey gave it to him so he would not say anything about it.
Another man who has remained anonymous also alleges that Spacey invited him as a teen to spend a weekend with him in New York. On the first night, Spacey spoke a great deal about his acting work, and became affectionate towards the young man in a way that made him feel uncomfortable.
He alleged that Spacey asked him to sleep with him, but he refused and slept on the couch. As he went to sleep, he said that he heard Spacey crying. He said he woke up later to find that the actor had his arms around him. But he did not think that anything sexual had occurred.
The man said that he believed Spacey was trying to groom him to become a sexual partner. But he said that he never gave Spacey the impression that he was interested in that, and he did not want it. The anonymous man added that he thought that Spacey was either stupid or predatory or both.
‘House of Cards’ on the Chopping Block
🔥NEW KEVIN SPACEY ACCUSER
SAYS STAR ROUTINELY PREYED ON
YOUNG MALE ACTORS#Hollywood #HouseOfCardshttps://t.co/Usr8oL7CeK— 🇺🇸 USA OVER PARTY (@michaelbeatty3) November 1, 2017
While all this has come to light, the popular show ‘House of Cards’ has taken a hit. While the show was apparently going to be canceled after the sixth and final season anyway, word is out that production work on the final season has been suspended due to sexual harassment charges against Spacey.
It is especially notable that ‘House of Cards’ has been suspended; it was the first original series on Netflix and has been a consistent hit. The show paved the way for Netflix to change how Americans watch TV. It showed that streaming companies could go toe-to-toe with major networks for tv viewing audiences.
Spacey also has been dropped as the recipient of an Emmy award he was supposed to get in November 2017.