Kevin Spacey has now been added to the growing list of actors, producers, and artists who have recently been accused of Sexual Harassment – these claims are all following in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein horrors. The news comes after actor Anthony Rapp’s interview with Buzzfeed, who recalled the time Spacey crossed a "sexual boundary" at a party in 1986. Spacey was 26 years old at the time, while Rapp was just 14. The House of Cards star released a statement early Monday morning, apologising for his actions and attributing them to "drunken behaviour".
Spacey then follows on to admit he is a homosexual, claiming he will "now living as a gay man". It would be fair to conclude that the news has not generally been received well by the public. Some have accused Spacey of an attempt to "distract" the attention away from his sexual harassment embarrassment. These events have resulted in an immediate cancellation of House of Cards by Netflix.
An LGBT Advocate?
Having an Academy Award winner such as Spacey come out as homosexual would be in any other circumstances, a major breakthrough for the LGBT Community. Those such as Christina Cauterucci however, have claimed that Spacey is using "the whole gay community as a flak jacket for his own image". Given that he is such a public figure, having Spacey admit he was a homosexual could have potentially been inspirational to many people who are too scared to come out.
The statement that Spacey has released nonetheless appears to be less than inspirational, to say the least. What started out as a sincere and heartfelt apology, turned swiftly into a public statement regarding the actor’s sexuality; this leads the readers to focus completely away from the initial point of the statement.
How is this being reported? How should this be reported?
From a basic search into the events regarding Spacey and Rapp, there is a clear rhetoric of the term ‘sexual advances’. There is, however, a significant lack of detail regarding what it means by the term ‘sexual advances’. To many, this could come across as someone who got too close or maybe involved a bit of touching.
There is a requirement of reporters, however, to acknowledge what Rapp has really disclosed of Spacey’s actions, in order to the public to get a comprehensive knowledge of what happened. In the original Buzzfeed interview, Rapp recalls how Spacey invited him to a party, and "at the end of the night, picked Rapp up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him". To call these actions that were carried out upon a 14-year-old boy mere ‘sexual advances’ would be an insult; to anyone’s standards, this would be a clearly terrifying experience for someone of that age.
Where to go from here
The main conclusion that is taken from this news is the general and worldwide feeling of disappointment. The acknowledgement that Kevin Spacey, a much-loved actor and producer, has been accused of sexually harassing a minor and putting it down to "drunken behaviour" is yet another blow.
Where is the public to go with this you could ask? Can we as society disregard Spacey's actions to be a bit of drunken behaviour? Rapp reports that he hopes to inspire others who have had similar experiences to come forward. He said he has chosen to open up about his experience to "shine another light on the decade of behaviour that has been allowed to continue because many people, including myself, being silent". There is a hope that what can be taken from these events, is the belief that people will consider their behaviour differently when drinking, because no matter how much someone has had to drink, sexual harassment is sexual harassment, and society will not stand for it.
