Kevin Spacey in 2013. via Flikr
The latest member of Hollywood to be accused of sexual abuse is actor Kevin Spacey. He has been accused of trying to molest Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp when Rapp was 14. Rapp wasn't raped, but he was propositioned and harassed. Spacey apologized and said he was coming out as gay.
I have a few thoughts. The most obvious is that odious way that Spacey apologized. Though I give him some credit for admitting wrongdoing the way he did so was pretty stupid. First of all, he claimed to not remember the event because he was drunk. Being drunk isn't an excuse for trying to sleep with a 14 year old. Obviously.
More serious was the fact that he decided to come out as gay. I don't think anyone really cares if Spacey is gay or not but everyone criticized the timing of him coming out. Coming out of the closet after being accused of attacking a child is not going to play well. It makes it seem like he is trying to distract from what he did and get gay sympathy points. Needless to say this did not work at all for Spacey.
I think that Spacey is going to suffer for this. There is a small chance he could face charges but given the incident happened 30 years ago so the statue of limitations may have run out, depending on the state. He might not face any criminal charges but he could still face civil charges, especially if other victims come forward.
Spacey career will take a hit as well. Already Netflix has canceled his critically acclaimed drama House of Cards. Considering how popular House of Cards was and how much of a critical darling it was, this shows that Spacey has become toxic. Sure House of Cards wasn't as popular as it used to be, but it is still a Netflix cornerstone. The show getting canceled shows how much blowback Spacey is getting.
I do have a hope that the fact that Spacey is crashing and burning here encourages others to come forward. Harvey Weinstein opened the floodgates and I am hoping more people will come forward in Hollywood. We all know that there are pedophiles, rapists and abusers throughout Hollywood and though Weinstein was powerful, he wasn't an A-lister. Spacey wasn't either but he's damn close and I am guessing other people will come forward now, especially if Anthony Rapp career isn't threatened by this revelation.
Apparently a lot of people agree with me about Spacey. I tweeted about this yesterday and it seemed to resonate with people...
Kevin Spacey is #Hollywood royalty. The fact that #AnthonyRapp feels comfortable accusing him shows that the system is collapsing.— Jeff H (@politicswarblog) October 30, 2017
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