By Maia Venuti
Staff Writer
Kevin Spacey is an American actor known for his roles in many shows and films including “House of Cards,” “American Beauty,” “Se7en” and “The Usual Suspects” to name a few. Since 2017, however, Spacey has become more known for the litany of sexual assault allegations coming from more than 30 men spanning across over three decades. Despite being acquitted in the United Kingdom on sexual assault charges and despite Spacey stating that he is ready for his return to Hollywood, it is all too little too late.
In a post #MeToo world, Hollywood has been subject to closer scrutiny than before, especially when it comes to predatory behavior. To this day, Hollywood has historically been extremely forgiving of men who have been accused of sexual assault and rape, most notably Roman Polanski and Woody Allen. It was only when the #MeToo movement began when victims felt safe enough to speak up and these predators actually began to suffer the consequences.
While many men have been able to skirt their way around any kind of punishment and were able to continue their careers as normal, that is unlikely to happen for Spacey. For one, he has already been sued again by another person, a massage therapist who is alleging that Spacey made sexual advances on him.
The fact that Spacey is being sued six years after the initial allegations came out highlights the extremely likely prospect that this is something that will follow him for the rest of his life.
Spacey’s removal from the political drama “House of Cards” was a massive blow to his career and any chance of recovery. “House of Cards” was arguably Spacey’s best work. When he was fired in 2017 after the allegations came out, it caused massive losses for the “House of Cards” creators.
The show’s creators had to completely rewrite the final season to remove Spacey’s character, the main character, and they had to shorten the season by five episodes, causing tens of millions of dollars in damage.
Last year, a Los Angeles judge ruled that Spacey was to pay the “House of Cards” creators $30.9 million in damages caused due to his firing. So, not only was he publicly fired for allegations of sexual assault, which is on its own undesirable when seeking future employment, but his conduct has proven him to be a massive liability in working on a major project. A director can hire an actor who is of equal if not better talent that would not cause the production to hemorrhage money due to sexual assault allegations.
Yes, Kevin Spacey was a good actor, but there are so many other white male actors in their sixties who can do exactly what Spacey does, without accumulating decades worth of sexual assault allegations from scores of men. His presence in any new film or show would bring nothing but bad publicity and massive financial losses to any production.
There is no reason for Spacey to make a Hollywood comeback, except for maybe wanting to pay off that $31 million he owes the “House of Cards” creators.
