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Kevin Spacey had spent decades at the top of Hollywood, often being described as one of the greatest talents of our age, but in 2017, a shift took place and it was no longer his career that the public was focused on.
The star with celebrated roles in films including The Usual Suspects and American Beauty, was shockingly fired from House Of Cards – one of Netflix’s first original series.
The multi-million-pound project was largely hinged on Spacey’s screen presence as Frank Underwood, but their main star was cut from the project amid allegations of misconduct.
Spacey, 64, was acquitted of a number of sexual offences alleged by four men between 2001 and 2013 after a trial in London, and he also won a US civil lawsuit in October 2022, after being accused of an unwanted sexual advance at a party in 1986. However, a man with two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, 12 Emmy nominations seemingly became persona non grata in the industry.
His ‘spectacular fall from grace’ is the subject of the latest Channel 4 documentary.
Spacey Unmasked features 10 men who discuss their experiences with the actor.
Spacey won two Academy Awards (Picture: Bei/REX/Shutterstock)
Producer Katherine Haywood has kept one overarching goal in mind ever since taking on the project in May 2022. The filmmaker wanted to ensure it gave viewers a full story of a complex human being. ‘There are no monsters and there are no saints,’ she told Metro.co.uk. ‘Everybody’s a mix of everything.’
As well as speaking to the 10 men, they feature archival interview footage of Spacey and get an account from his older sibling Randy Spacey.
The 67-year-old who ‘really does love his brother’ is able to give a unique perspective of the early years and describes a harrowing childhood. Randy claims their dad Thomas raped him, and that their house was full of darkness.
The two episodes also cover his rise to the top of Hollywood, the reaction to the 2017 allegations, and his subsequent decision to come out as a gay man, which was criticised for its timing.
The documentary’s aim is to present the information ‘dispassionately’ so the audience can come to their own conclusions.
‘At the end of the episodes, some people will have different opinions from other people, and that’s fine,’ she explained. ‘Human interactions are complicated. You don’t know exactly how people will interpret behaviour or how the person intended things to be interpreted.’
Kevin was fired from House of Cards (Picture: Netflix/Kobal/Shutterstock)
When Haywood first began to work on the project, she asked the men to share their stories about Spacey with just her. They were assured that there was no obligation to participate in the TV show, but, eventually, 10 individuals decided to ‘stick their head above the parapet’ as they hoped their openness could help others.
Amongst the people who opted to participate was Daniel – an actor who worked on House of Cards. Daniel alleges that after being given a speaking line for the first time, he was followed out of where filming would take place by Spacey. ‘His hand touched my penis. I was inappropriately touched on set at work.’
Aspiring actor Scott, who says he met Spacey at The Viper Room nightclub in Los Angeles, also shared his recollection of his experiences with Spacey. He alleges Spacey ‘pleasured himself’ while they watched the bloody opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, before grabbing Scott’s hand to ‘help out’. Scott claims Spacey suggested that you needed to give sexual favours to get ahead in Hollywood.
‘I’ve never told someone that if they give me sexual favours, then I will help them out with their career, never,’ Spacey recently said in an interview with former GB News presenter Dan Wootton in a new interview titled Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply.
The documentary includes other young actors, as well as crew members, and a school friend, who all claim to have been at the receiving end of inappropriate behaviour. There are allegations of non-consensual groping, and humping, and claims they were forced to watch Spacey masturbate.
Spacey has criticised the documentary (Picture: Channel 4
Channel 4 says Spacey was offered a right to reply to the allegations in the film but no formal on-the-record statement was provided.
Spacey has said he has not been afforded the time or enough information to respond.
‘Over the last week, I have repeatedly requested that @Channel4 afford me more than seven days to respond to allegations made against me dating back 48 years and provide me with sufficient details to investigate these matters,’ he wrote on X.
‘Channel 4 has refused on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in seven days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a “fair opportunity” for me to refute any allegations made against me. I will not sit back and be attacked by a dying network’s one-sided “documentary” about me in their desperate attempt for ratings.
‘There’s a proper channel to handle allegations against me and it’s not Channel 4. Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated.’
He added that he will no longer be ‘speechless’.
Haywood feels proud of each of the men for speaking, and ‘showing their vulnerability’.
‘A lot of them previously felt unheard, and shame. They don’t want that for other men,’ she said.
Haywood hopes we are at the tipping point of a male #MeToo movement, which doesn’t diminish what women go through, but adds another important conversation.
‘For a few years now we have been talking about this stuff, but we haven’t talked about it often in relation to men. I do hope that men will see this and realise it’s okay to talk about it. Even if they don’t talk about it on a TV show, they can talk about it amongst themselves.
‘There is this pressure that men have to be strong and have bravado, and they aren’t supposed to cry or show weakness. I’m talking in generalisations, but women seem to feel that less.’
She added: ‘The men got comments like: “Why didn’t you just punch him?” or “Lucky you” just because they are gay. They even had friends make jokes, but it’s not funny. Hopefully, these responses change in the future.’
Haywood is proud of each of the men for their involvement (Picture: Channel 4)
Each and every person’s story has stuck with Haywood, and there was one aspect about the men that particularly stood out, something she says they all have in common – their empathy. ‘They can simultaneously feel upset and hurt by what happened and still find the generosity of spirit to try and understand it from Kevin’s point of view and feel sorry for him in certain situations.’
Haywood also praises the men for speaking out about a public figure and informs us they are aware of the potential consequences.
‘Some people will criticise them because it is a slightly polarising subject. They’re fully aware of that.
‘We knew there’d be a lot of interest in this which comes with a lot of responsibility and nerves, but it’s really important,’ she shared.
Spacey has denied allegations (Picture: Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)
Spacey has denied allegations previously brought in court, and this is made clear in the documentary. However, Haywood said: ‘There are other people with their own stories to tell and even though what happened might not be criminal, it’s still behaviour that is painful, hurtful, and upsetting.
‘There’s 10 men in this film, but there’s a lot more men out there that have experienced this kind of thing. I’m not just talking in relation to Kevin or the entertainment world but in every walk of life. The time to talk is now,’ Haywood concluded.
Through his lawyers, Spacey has said that he has been publicly exonerated and has been acquitted of every criminal charge against him in the US and the UK.
He strongly disagrees with the findings against him by MRC, the production company behind House of Cards. In 2021, Spacey and his production companies were ordered to pay $31 million to the studio, but it was ruled last year, he would pay $1 million. Arbitrators found that Spacey violated his contract’s demands for professional behaviour by ‘engaging certain conduct in connection with several crew members’ in each of the five seasons he was involved in, according to a document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Spacey denies engaging in any sexual harassment or other wrongful conduct in connection with House of Cards. He acknowledged that he ‘participated in a pervasive on-set culture that was filled with sexual innuendos, jokes, and innocent horseplay, but never sexually harassed anyone.’
During the interview with Wootton, Spacey denied accusations of any illegal behaviour and went on to reference progressing the careers of others through his charitable foundation.
‘Were there times when I would flirt with some of the people who were involved in those programmes who were in their 20s? Yes,’ he said.
‘Did I ever hook up with another actor? Yes. Did I make a clumsy pass at someone who wasn’t interested as it turned out? Yes.
‘But I was not employing them, I was not their boss, I was oftentimes just swimming in for an hour here or there as a well-known actor to lend support… to answer questions.
‘That may not have been the best decision and it is not one that I would do today, but it happened.
‘It wasn’t illegal, and nor has it ever been alleged to have been illegal.’
The first episode of Spacey Unmasked airs on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight, and the second episode will air on Tuesday
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