The Hollywood community, particularly some who identify as LGBT, are in outrage after
Kevin Spacey issued an apology statement, which many feel was an attempt to overshadow allegedly sexually assaulting actor
Anthony Rapp when Anthony was only a teenager, with coming out as gay.
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Anthony Rapp, 46, alleged Kevin Spacey, 58, invited him to his apartment for a party in 1986. At the time of the alleged incident Kevin was 26-years-old and Anthony was 14, and because he was the only teen at the party, the actor said he spent most of the night watching TV in the bedroom. Once the party ended, he said, The House of Cards star came into the room and laid “down on top of me…he was trying to seduce me.”
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Kevin Spacey then took to Twitter to issue a two-part statement: “I have a lot of respect and admiration for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I’m beyond horrified to hear this story. I honestly do not remember the encounter; it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
The actor’s apology then transitions into a pronouncement, “This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closes to me know, in my life, I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic relationships with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”
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However, many celebrities have spoken out saying the actor is using his sexuality as a distraction from the real story.
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“Kevin Spacey has immense wealth & fame, and yet never came out as a gay man until he needed a distraction from this story –& Sympathy,” Glenn Greenwald said.
Billy Eichner added, “Kevin Spacey has just invented something has never existed before: A bad time to come out,”
“No no no no no! You do not get to ‘choose’ to hide under the rainbow!” comedian Wanda Sykes, who came out as a lesbian in 2008, wrote on Twitter. “Kick rocks!”
In the recent weeks following the allegations against
Harvey Weinstein many
actresses came forward with stories of sexual harassment. Yesterday, Anthony Rapp spoke to those sentiments, tweeting: “I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out. To shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me.”
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