Kevin Spacey reportedly abused & harassed 20 young men at the Old Vic

* SPACEY LANDS CBE HONOUR IN LONDON

At the height of Kevin Spacey’s fame and having won two Oscars in the span of four years, he chose to hit pause on his film career. He took over as artistic director for the Old Vic in London, and he lived – seemingly full-time – in London for more than a decade. It was still an odd choice, and even knowing what we know now, the choice still doesn’t make a ton of sense. You could make the argument that Spacey simply wanted a new hunting ground, or that maybe the London theater community gave him more “cover” than the Broadway community. I don’t know. In any case, as soon as the Spacey stories started coming out, the Old Vic announced that they were doing an internal investigation into whether Spacey had abused his authority in any way during his tenure at the Old Vic. Guess what? TWENTY. Twenty men have accused Spacey of “a range of inappropriate behavior.”

London’s Old Vic theater said Thursday it has received 20 allegations of actions that spanned “a range of inappropriate behavior” against Kevin Spacey, its former artistic director. The allegations cover interactions between 1995 and 2013, and all of them deal with men. The reported incidents range from behavior that made people feel uncomfortable to “sexually inappropriate” touching. There were no allegations of rape.

“During his tenure, The Old Vic was in a unique position of having a Hollywood star at the helm around whom existed a cult of personality,” the theater said in a statement. “The investigation found that his stardom and status at The Old Vic may have prevented people, and in particular junior staff or young actors, from feeling that they could speak up or raise a hand for help.”

The allegations follow an investigation that a law firm began in October at the request of the theater, amid reports being circulated about Spacey’s behavior while being its artistic director from 2004 to 2015. Richard Miskella, a partner at law firm Lewis Silkin who led the investigation, said the firm invited Spacey to participate in the investigation “and he didn’t respond.”

Miskella said he found no evidence that suspicion about Spacey’s behavior was common at the Old Vic.

“There wasn’t widespread knowledge of this,” he said. Old Vic executive director Kate Varah said this was “a really dismaying time” for the theatre and apologized to the victims.

[From Page Six]

Um.. twenty victims but there was no widespread knowledge? Horsesh-t. The situation with the Old Vic was probably so much like the situation on House of Cards: all of the young, male below-the-line workers knew Spacey was a harasser and assailant. ALL of them. And when some of them came forward, they were told to shut up, or they were fired, or people just shrugged their shoulders. And now the Old Vic, much like Netflix, has potential liability because a sexual predator used their space as a hunting ground.

The Weinstein Company & Netflix 2014 Golden Globes After Party

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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15 Responses to “Kevin Spacey reportedly abused & harassed 20 young men at the Old Vic”

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  1. Neelyo says:

    Looking back, I wonder if he took the job in London because something was about to blow over here in the US. Sure he’d released that fetid sausage of a biopic, BEYOND THE SEA, but that could have been overcome. Maybe there was another reason to leave Hollywood….

    I’m sure the Old Vic looked the other way. It was a mutually beneficial relationship. He raised their profile and they gave him a playground.

    • Mannori says:

      yeah specially considering how the theatre world is and how “fluid” they are, to put it mildly. They all knew, I’m sure. Just like they all know in Hollywood. Theatre people are very gossipy and b*tchy. Lots of competition and rumors floating around.Is a whole world in itself. I’ve lived for 2 years right next to the Young Vic….I’ve seen things that you humans….

  2. aims says:

    This doesn’t surprise me. The flood gates are open and all his abuse will come out. I also agree with the idea that these companies knew his record and now they are liable for being complicated. He is an abuser who used his status to prey on his victims. No question.

  3. Ashley says:

    I was listening to a podcast and one of the host had a friend who worked as an extra for House of Cards and one of the makeup artist on set warned the extra to avoid Spacey since he was his “type”. I mean if you have like makeup artist,and the like warning EXTRA’s than its bull to say nobody knew.

  4. pinetree13 says:

    Sadly not surprised either.

    I wonder if Christopher Plummer still feels sorry for him and thinks it is sad and if Bryan Cranston still thinks it’s F-ed if we don’t take him back if he apologizes…I’m still angry over those posts.

    • Mannori says:

      old white dudes. another mentality and another idea of masculinity and patriarchy too deep into their values system to even suspect that what they’re saying doesn’t apply anymore to the world we live in today. I hope that way of thinking will die definitively with them and their tainted generations (and this applies to women as well: how many women raised scumbags and let them got away with terrible things just because boys will be boys)

  5. Trio says:

    I heard about this years ago. My cousin once worked on a film with him and it seems like everyone was aware of his behavior.

  6. why? says:

    This just makes you sick to learn that all of this was going on for so many years.

    • LilSuzi says:

      30 years??

      When the dust finally settles, Kevin Spacey will probably be considered the most prolific sexual predator in the history of the entertainment industry.

  7. Nicole says:

    This is not new news. At all.

  8. BJ says:

    I read about this years ago on a gay gossip site.Guys in London would post about him .I also read about him getting beat up years ago.He claimed he was mugged in a park but I wonder if he groped the wrong guy and got beat up.

  9. thecookingpan says:

    I knew a person on the fringe of Hollywood years ago and it was a well known secret that he liked young men and also that thing about the ‘challenge’ of straight young men. Literally 10 years ago.

  10. jetlagged says:

    Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the Old Vic in serious financial trouble before Spacey came on as artistic director? If the Old Vic had a tenuous life, only made possible by Spacey’s continued involvement, perhaps that was a contributing factor to everyone turning a blind eye.