Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and more actors are coming to the defense of Kevin Spacey and calling for his return to the industry at large. Spacey has not worked in Hollywood since being accused by several men of sexual misconduct starting in 2017. The two-part documentary “Spacey Unmasked” recently aired in the U.K. and is now streaming on Max and features previously unheard of testimonies about Spacey’s alleged sexual misconduct, including a claim that he allegedly groped another “House of Cards” actor on set.
In statements given to The Telegraph, Stone and Neeson were joined by the likes of Stephen Fry and F Murray Abraham in their calls for Spacey’s return. Abraham himself was accused of sexual misconduct during the production of the Apple TV+ series “Mythic Quest,” which reportedly led to his firing.
“I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will,” Stone told The Telegraph, adding that it was clear aspiring actors “wanted and want to be around him.”
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“It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas,” Stone added,
Neeson told the publication he “was deeply saddened to learn of these accusations against” Spacey, but added: “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. He’s sensitive, articulate and non-judgmental, with a terrific sense of humor. He is also one of our finest artists in the theatre and on camera. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”
“I vouch for him unequivocally,” Abraham said. “Who are these vultures who attack a man who has publicly accepted his responsibility for certain behavior, unlike so many others?…He is a fine man, I stand with him, and let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
Fry took aim at the documentary “Spacey Unasked” and said that to “bracket [Spacey] with the likes of Harvey Weinstein” and “to continue to harass and hound him, to devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes…how can that be considered proportionate and justified?”
Spacey himself has already slammed the documentary. In an interview with journalist Dan Wootton, the Oscar winner lamented being shut out of the industry, saying: “Nobody in Hollywood has ever presented a path back for me. There’s no coursework material. I’ve been given no boxes to check, no nothing. It seems that some are content with just canceling me forever. It’s a life sentence.”
Since claims of Spacey’s alleged inappropriate behavior and sexual assault first arose in the wake of the #MeToo movement in 2017, several legal cases have been brought against the two-time Oscar winner. In 2022, a jury in New York concluded that he did not molest actor Anthony Rapp, who had accused him of sexual assault in the early 1980s when Rapp was 14. The next year, a U.K. court found Spacey not guilty of nine charges of sexual assault from four complainants. Several other charges and lawsuits have been dropped. Spacey has denied all the allegations.
“Spacey Unmasked” includes a handful of new allegations leveled at Spacey, including one claim that he made “aggressive sexual move” on a classmate in high school. Another claim alleges Spacey masturbated in a cinema next to an actor while watching the opening scenes of “Saving Private Ryan.”
