After the #MeToo took off, men and women have been coming forward with stories of sexual assault and abuse. Especially where men in power have been known to abuse their seniority.
A latest addition was Anthony Rapp, the actor who has been a part of Star Trek: Discovery, A Beautiful Mind and Rent. The 46 year old, who was a child actor in the Broadway play Precious Sons admitted in an interview with Buzzfeed that he was sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey (from House Of Cards) at 14 years of age when Spacey was 26 at a party the older actor had hosted. “He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lays down on top of me,” Rapp told Buzzfeed. “He was trying to seduce me, I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me, sexually.” Although Rapp hinted towards this over the years (never mentioning a name, nor confronting Spacey about the issue), it was the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal that encouraged him to come clean and point at the accused.
In the wake of the accusation, Spacey took to twitter to respond to the entire situation:
In his response, Spacey highlights his past relationships with men and women; and also used the medium as an opportunity to share with followers that he is gay. According to his post, Spacey admits that he could have been under some sort of influence to have acted the way that he did with Rapp; albeit having had no recollection of the same. In spite of any lack of memory whatsoever, he offers an apology to the Star Trek actor and takes accountability for all his actions – past, present and future – in a way that is actually commendable of an actor. Harvey Weinstein, are you listening? Though his behavior with Anthony might have been unacceptable, his response seems sincere and honest. Bollywood actors, too could take a leaf out of Spacey’s own book of confessions and cue a response similar to the one he has. But, maybe that’s too much to ask of our own stars, am I right, Akshay Kumar?