LOS ANGELES — Remember Kevin Spacey?
The disgraced actor is in the spotlight again, this time for remarks he made comparing the uncertainties people are experiencing because of the coronavirus crisis to his downfall after being accused of sexual assault. He made those comments on a podcast episode posted in early April.
“I will do my best to share some of my perspective on what it feels like to suddenly find yourself in a situation you could not possibly have prepared for or anticipated was coming,” Spacey said to kick off his 10-minute address. He was speaking at a virtual event hosted by Germany’s “Bits and Pretzels” podcast.
“I don’t think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017,” he continued. “My job, many of my relationships (and) my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours.”
In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp alleged that Spacey made sexual advances toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14. (That accusation led Spacey to come out as gay, the timing of which didn’t go over well.)
A slew of other sexual misconduct accusations from other men spanning decades soon followed. Spacey was eventually fired and then written off of the final season of Netflix’s “House of Cards” amid various accusations.
In his recent podcast remarks, Spacey, 60, did not address any of the allegations and subsequent lawsuits. He did mention that it was “very different reasons and circumstances” that caused his unemployment. But he can relate to those who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus crisis.
“I still believe that some of the emotional struggles are very much the same,” Spacey said. “So I do have empathy for what it feels like to suddenly be told that you can’t go back to work or that you might lose your job, and that it’s a situation that you have absolutely no control over.”
Although multiple allegations against Spacey have prompted criminal investigations, they have not resulted in any charges.
In 2018, Los Angeles prosecutors declined to file charges for a 1992 allegation because it was beyond the statute of limitations. In 2019, the L.A. County District Attorney’s office declined to file sexual assault charges because the accuser died unexpectedly during the investigation. Earlier that year, Massachusetts prosecutors also dropped a groping case against Spacey after the accuser refused to testify.
Since then, Spacey has mostly kept a low profile, save for some odd videos he has filmed seemingly as his “House of Cards” character, Frank Underwood.
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