Kevin Spacey accused by House of Cards crew of sexual harassment
Spacey’s behaviour was described as 'predatory' by eight employees
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Your support makes all the difference.Like how dozens of women came forward against Harvey Weinstein following initial sexual harassment allegations, so have multiple men come forward against Kevin Spacey.
CNN has published a report detailing how the actor allegedly sexually harassed eight members of the House of Cards crew, one employee claiming they were assaulted by Spacey.
Those who came forward claimed Spacey’s behaviour was “predatory," making for a “toxic” work environment. All nine men asked to remain anonymous, fearing recourse on their careers if named.
The allegations come just days after Anthony Rapp told BuzzFeed News that Spacey made sexual advances on him when Rapp was just 14. Since then, actor Roberto Cavazos, filmmaker Tony Montana, and barman Daniel Beal have made accusation against Spacey.
Spacey responded to the initial allegations in a contorversial statement which read, "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."
Of those who worked on House of Cards, one former production assistant claimed Spacey assaulted them. They described driving a car with Spacey when the actor none-consensually putting his hands down the production assistant's pants.
"He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there,” they told CNN.
Later on set, the production assistant was allegedly cornered by Spacey, the actor making inappropriate contact with him. When the production assistant said they felt uncomfortable, Spacey because “visibly flustered,” leaving the set for the day.
The incident was not reported to advisors, however, the production assistant had reportedly complained about Spacey sexually harassing them weeks before.
"I have no doubt that this type of predatory behavior was routine for him and that my experience was one of many and that Kevin had few if any qualms about exploiting his status and position," he said. "It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors.”
Other men who came forward all alleged the set could be toxic for young men, one saying Spacey would “put his hands on me in weird ways”.
House of Cards production company Media Rights Capital (MRC) has since confirmed they previously received a sexual assault complaint in 2012.
"We have consistently reinforced the importance of employees reporting any incident without fear of retaliation and we have investigated and taken appropriate actions following any complaints,” they said.
"For example, during our first year of production in 2012, someone on the crew shared a complaint about a specific remark and gesture made by Kevin Spacey. Immediate action was taken following our review of the situation and we are confident the issue was resolved promptly to the satisfaction of all involved. Mr. Spacey willingly participated in a training process and since that time MRC has not been made aware of any other complaints involving Mr. Spacey."
Netflix — who has since sent a representative down to the House of Cards set — has also issued a statement on the allegations, saying: “Netflix was just made aware of one incident, five years ago, that we were informed was resolved swiftly. On Tuesday, in collaboration with MRC, we suspended production, knowing that Kevin Spacey wasn’t scheduled to work until Wednesday.
“Netflix is not aware of any other incidents involving Kevin Spacey on-set. We continue to collaborate with MRC and other production partners to maintain a safe and respectful working environment. We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the production, and have nothing further to share at this time.”
Following the initial allegations made by Rapp, Netflix announced that House of Cards would finish with the sixth series.
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