Topline
A documentary with new interviews surrounding the allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey will premiere in the U.K. over two nights on Monday and Tuesday, days after its subject slammed the production as a “desperate attempt for ratings” and vowed he would respond to the allegations on X, formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend.
Key Facts
Channel 4, a publicly-owned broadcast network in Britain, will premiere “Spacey Unmasked” in England early next week and promises it will “investigate Spacey’s conduct, how it affected others and the reasons why they have only decided to speak out now”—Spacey has consistently denied sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him.
The documentary will premiere less than a year after Spacey was acquitted in a U.K. court case that accused him of sexual assault—he was also found not liable in a separate assault and battery case out of New York in 2022 and a sexual assault case brought against him out of Nantucket was dropped in 2019.
The documentary features new interviews with 10 people, none of whom were connected to the trial in the U.K. and nine of whom will be speaking out about their experiences with Spacey for the first time, Variety reported, including alleged incidents on the set of Spacey’s breakout hit Netflix show “House of Cards.”
Spacey on Thursday preempted the show’s release and posted to X to say he would “not sit back and be attacked by a dying network’s one-sided ‘documentary’ about me in their desperate attempt for ratings.”
The actor attacked Channel 4 for allegedly not providing him sufficient details on the allegations or giving him a “fair opportunity” to defend himself—he said the network gave him seven days to “respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years.”
Crucial Quote
“Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated,” the actor tweeted Thursday. “Tune in this weekend to see my response on X.com/kevinspacey.”
What To Watch For
“Spacey Unmasked” has been picked up by Max, HBO’s streaming service, for viewing in the United States after it premieres on Channel 4. A premiere date has not been announced.
Key Background
In 2017, “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp made the first allegations against the actor, claiming that a then-26-year-old Spacey made a sexual advance at him in 1986, when he was 14 years old. Spacey responded to the accusation saying he couldn’t remember the alleged incident but apologizing for “what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” In the same statement, Spacey announced for the first time that he was gay. In the following weeks, Spacey had his Emmy Awards revoked and Netflix severed ties with the actor. Soon after, a former Boston-area news anchor accused Spacey of groping her 18-year-old son at a bar in Nantucket, a filmmaker accused Spacey of groping him and at least 20 men accused him of sexual misconduct at the Old Vic, a London theater where Spacey was artistic director from 2004 to 2015. Spacey was sued in a civil court by a masseuse who claimed he sexually assaulted him and charged with indecent assault in the Nantucket incident, a charge that was later dropped. Rapp sued Spacey for $40 million but a jury found that Spacey did not sexually abuse him. Spacey’s lawyers argued that Rapp invented the story out of jealousy for Spacey’s success in the entertainment industry, and pointed out inconsistencies in details in Rapp’s story. The 11-person jury sided with Spacey after less than 90 minutes of deliberation. Spacey was also cleared in a U.K. lawsuit brought by four men who painted him as a “vile sexual predator.” He was facing a dozen charges including sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent in the U.K. before being acquitted. In the London case, Spacey argued the evidence against him was weak and that any of the sexual encounters, if they occurred, were consensual. He said he’d had a history of being a “big flirt” with a promiscuous past, but had never assaulted anyone and accused the plaintiffs of seeking money.
Chief Critic
Spacey was the subject of criticism from the LGBTQ community for using his statement denying sexual assault allegations to come out as gay. Prominent members of the community accused his statement of fueling sentiments that connect pedophilia to homosexuality. Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson at the time said Spacey threw “the entire LGBT community under a bus and called it solidarity in an effort to mask his personal failings.” Comedian Wanda Sykes tweeted to the actor, “You do not get to ‘choose’ to hide under the rainbow! Kick rocks!” and Billie Eichner said, “Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.”