Image source, Getty Images
Kevin Spacey has responded to new allegations of inappropriate past behaviour, ahead of a new documentary being released next week.
In an interview with former GB News presenter Dan Wootton, he commented on the allegations made in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary.
While he admitted that he may have at times acted inappropriately in the past, he denied that his conduct was illegal.
Spacey was acquitted of sexual assault in trials conducted in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Spacey-Lawton said: “I take full responsibility for my past behavior and actions. But I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who made things up about me or exaggerated stories about me.”
“I never told anyone that if they offered me sexual favors, I would help them with their careers at all,” he said.
“I obviously approached some guys who thought they might advance their careers by having a relationship with me. But there was no conversation with me. It was all part of their plan, a plan that was always doomed to fail, because I wasn’t involved in the deal.” “.
The Spacey Unmasked documentary is set to be released on Channel 4 next week.
Actors Ruari Cannon and Danny Di Lillo are among the actors appearing in the documentary. Both gave interviews published today alleging that Mr Spacey engaged in inappropriate behaviour.
Cannon alleges that in 2013, Spacey touched him inappropriately in public at a press night during a theater production at the Old Vic. Spacey said the claim was “ridiculous and never happened.”
Mr Di Lillo alleges the actor pushed his groin towards his face while sitting at a show at the same theatre. Spacey said he found the accusation “completely offensive.”
“There were definitely times when I was inappropriate and flirtatious with the people I worked with at this theater, and I had relationships with a few of them that were consensual,” he said.
A number of other allegations in the documentary have been made against Spacey, who has denied the accusations of illegal conduct in all cases.
“Were there times when I was flirting with some of the people who were on those shows who were in their 20s? Yes. Did I ever hook up with another actor? Yes. Did I make a clumsy pass to someone who wasn’t interested? As it turned out, yes.” “
He added: “It may not have been the best decision, and it’s not a decision I would have made today. But it happened. It was not illegal, and it was never alleged to be illegal.”
In a statement issued Friday evening, lawyers representing Spacey said there was no public interest in misleading the public by spreading “false and unverified claims” that were “largely historical, dating back nearly 50 years.” .
The lawyers said Spacey “was not provided with anything more than very general, anonymous information” about the allegations, and had “no choice but to make a public statement of his own” in the form of his interview with Mr. Wootton. .
Spacey said that the accusations made against him by Anthony Rapp, who accused him of sexual assault, did not happen. If they had done that, Spacey said, “when I was in my 20s, it would have been embarrassing, but not criminal.”
In 2022, a New York court dismissed a sexual assault lawsuit filed by Rapp against Spacey, alleging that the actor touched him inappropriately at a 1986 party when he was 14 years old.
Last year, in a separate trial in London, Spacey was acquitted of nine counts of sex crimes involving four men between 2001 and 2013.
The Hollywood star won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2000 for American Beauty and Best Supporting Actor in 1995 for The Usual Suspects.
He was also artistic director of the Old Vic Theater in London between 2004 and 2015.
The Old Vic said in a statement that it conducted an investigation in 2017 into alleged inappropriate behavior by Kevin Spacey at the theater between 2005 and 2013.
“No facts have been found regarding the alleged misconduct and there is no evidence that any formal complaints were made against Kevin Spacey during his tenure,” the theater said, adding that it takes responsibility for what has come to light and publicly apologizes.
Spacey’s career was halted in 2017 after a number of accusations of inappropriate behavior were made against him.
At the time, he had the starring role of Frank Underwood in the Netflix political drama House of Cards, which he lost.
Wootton, the former editor of the Sun Bizarre column, last year admitted making “errors of judgement” after allegations he paid fellow media professionals for explicit material, but strongly denied any crime.