Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry are voicing their support for disgraced actor Kevin Spacey following a new UK documentary containing new sexual assault allegations.
The “House of Cards” star disappeared from public life almost seven years ago after he was accused of assaulting and harassing several young people. A variety of U.S. and U.K. accusations have been dropped or dismissed, or resulted in the actor's acquittal, but “Spacey Unmasked” aims to reinvigorate the controversy with new allegations of inappropriate behavior by 10 men in Britain.
Spacey has denied the new allegations, but some of his colleagues were so outraged by the documentary that they spoke publicly to the Telegraph to offer their support to the actor.
“I can't wait to see Kevin back at work,” Sharon Stone told the outlet. “He is a genius. He is very elegant and funny, extremely generous and he knows more about our craft than most of us.”
Liam Neeson also reached out to Spacey and said, “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. Personally, our industry needs and misses him greatly.”
Stephen Fry admitted Spacey had been “clumsy and inappropriate” but said “it is surely wrong to continue to damage a reputation based on claims and rhetoric rather than evidence and proof.”
“Unless I'm missing something,” Fry said criticizing the documentary, “I think he's paid the price.”
F. Murray Abraham and Trevor Nunn, who directed Spacey in productions at London's Old Vic Theatre, where some of the incidents allegedly occurred, also wrote letters of support.
“I vouch for him unequivocally,” Abraham said. “Who are these vultures who, unlike so many others, attack a man who has publicly accepted responsibility for certain behavior?”
Spacey, who won the Oscar for best actor in 2000 for “American Beauty” and for supporting actor in 1995 for “The Usual Suspects,” saw his legal problems begin in 2017 when Anthony Rapp accused the actor of sexually abusing him when he was young. 14 years. He was acquitted of those charges, but subsequent ones have kept him out of Hollywood.
Spacey himself told the Telegraph that all he wanted regarding the allegations was “for people to ask questions and investigate” rather than rush to judgment. “And I'm very aware that that didn't happen.”
