That’s a real downer. I love Spacey’s acting but he won’t get a pass from anyone for trying to use his coming out as a shield against attempting to molest a young boy. I am really disappointed in him. I thought he was one of the good guys.
The 14 year old boy was Anthony Rapp, and it happened 30 years ago. Trying to seduce a 14 year old makes Spacey a pedophile, not a gay man. And totally despicable.
Hasn’t it been widely known that KS is gay? And even if we didn’t, how would coming out make any difference? Is it supposed to be a distraction,or, god forbid, an excuse?
I found it interesting that his comment, if accurate, is that he doesn’t recall and that he owes the victim an apology. At least he’s not denying it, and really, what more is he supposed to do / say?
Well, not a pedophile, but a hebephile.
But for fuck’s sake man, addressing inappropriate contact with a child in your coming-out statement? Is he a self-loathing gay man? Hoping to set the gay rights movement back 30 years? Angling to become the 2018 poster boy for right wing bigots?
Just to clarify my prior post, I don’t mean to sound dismissive. I’m just surprised he isn’t vehemently denying it. It doesn’t make his actions any better but I guess it shows *some * admission of responsibility. That’s how low the bar is these days 
I recently watched a documentary about Jessica Hahn. Since her big claim to fame was here one night stand with Jim Bakker, it reminded me of the TV movie from about 30ish years ago about Jim and Tammy Bakker. I looked it up on IMDB, and was completely surprised to find that Bakker had been portrayed by Kevin Spacey. Had no idea, and at the time didn’t know who he was.
Other than that, I got nuthin’.
This, and the narrative of the linked article, confuses me. Why are people thinking he’s coming out as an excuse or a distraction or whatever?
I see nothing in his statement that says he’s denying it or that he’s anything but sorry. Hell, the incident itself isn’t that particularly bad (as far as these things go). Spacey didn’t hold the kid down and rape him against his will or anything, he just came onto him. He definitely shouldn’t have done that, but unless there are more details to the sexual advancement story that aren’t in the article, it seems like Spacey just tried to seduce the kid and stopped before he got too far.
That nonwithstanding, it seems to me that the “Kevin Spacey is gay!” rumors are finally more substantial than in the past and he’s finally saying “You know what, I am gay”.
What part of his message is making everyone so mad?
Both these extremes seem wrong to me.
On the one hand, sexual attraction to a post-pubescent teen is not pedophilia, it is normal sexual attraction. But acting on such an attraction in any way whatsoever is hugely inappropriate, even if in the form of mild drunken flirting. Spacey allegedly went far beyond flirting to unwanted physical contact, something that would be illegal whatever age the target, and certainly a more serious offence with a 14-year-old.
The best twitter parody I have seen, in paraphrase:
(Kevin Spacey beats somebody to death with an accordion.)
Spacey: “Yes, the rumors are true. I have a secret life as an accordion player.”
If this is a one and only, he’ll be ok. If this is a first of many…
Because for a very long time, and STILL NOW in certain religious and political persuasions, there is a false equivalence that “Gay People” are actually “People Who Molest Children” and it’s been used as a weapon to shame or persecute gay people. It has been a very hard stigma to erase, and has resulted in lots of people being afraid to come out themselves because of the fear that people will have this perception of them as being child abusers.
For a specific example, I’m pansexual, I live in the Bible Belt, and I work with children, for a government agency. There is no way in HELL I will ever be able to be “out” around here without putting my continued employment at risk.
So for him to “come out” as part of his “oh whoops I totally don’t remember ever doing that but if I did it was because I was totally drunk and also gay” statement is infuriating.
Yes. There is nothing “unnatural” about being sexually attracted to a teen-ager. It might be icky, and it should be illegal for an adult to act on that attraction, but there is a world of difference between being sexually attracted to a post-pubescent teen and a pre-pubescent child. And by “child” I don’t mean “minor”.
I tend to agree. Unfortunately the emotional impact on this kid was significant. But a lot of us have done dumb shit when young and and drunk, so if this was a one-off, this should not make him a pariah.
It’s not so much the 1986 incident that angers me. As said above we’ve all done dumb shit when we’re drunk. It’s his combining his apology with his publicly coming out. He really has done a huge disservice to gays everywhere by this patently obvious attempt to try to deflect attention from the offense by revealing his sexuality. It’s such a stupid move too because the effect is the exact opposite of what he must have hoped for and it makes me think that he issued the statement in a moment of panic without thinking it through. Spacey isn’t normally a stupid man.
Kevin Spacey is named as the Hollywood star accused of assaulting TV news anchor’s loved one
He’s done.
A twenty-six-year-old should not be attempting to seduce a fourteen-year-old.
Candidly, Kevin Spacey should have been done after the first revelation, and I think some of you were a little to ready to excuse it. Most people are able to resist urges to sexually molest 14 year olds, even if they are drunk, and even if the 14 year is sexually developed. In fact, they are likely people who can’t resist those urges even if they aren’t drunk. His actions are repulsive. 14 year olds are children, as any of us with children that age can tell you.
The fact that he tried to distract from his actions by throwing in his coming out is also repulsive.
What’s being reported is that he put the kid on a bed and climbed on top of him - definitely against his will.
Disappointing. I was so hoping KS would be one of the good ones.
Agreed, but that does not make him a pedophile.
That’s the same story addressed in the OP. Not sure he’s “done”. I think it depends on how many other stories there are, and how he behaves going forward.