Five Years Later, Kevin Spacey Finally Faces Justice

     Less than five years. That's how long it took the world to collectively forget and forgive Kevin Spacey's serial rape of children. When Billionaire Boys Club was released in 2018 after the allegations against Spacey surfaced in October 2017, it grossed just $618 domestically on its opening weekend, and most of the $2.7 million made from the film's run (a failure against a $15 million budget) came from overseas. This is a problem far too common around the world. Roman Polanski, Harvey Weinstein, and others have sought solace abroad to hawk their crappy films to a global audience and succeeded. Of course, Weinstein will die in prison. Still, Spacey is slated to appear in an Italian film called The Man Who Drew God and an American film called Peter Five Eight. If you see either of those films, you'll be letting the industry know that he is no longer a pariah and is free to be cast in any film or show he'd like.

     Now, let's hope the same statement on Weinstein can soon be said for Kevin Spacey. Actor Anthony Rapp first accused Spacey of a sexual assault that occurred in 1986 (when Rapp was 14) in 2001, but Spacey's name was redacted to avoid legal issues; Rapp would come forward again on October 29th, 2017. Spacey gave the excuse that he was drunk and didn't remember it, but that he was sorry and that he was formally coming out as gay. This was roundly criticized, as he chose to come out in order to distract from his sexual assault allegations and subjected LGBT2SQIA+ people to the same tired criticisms. Rapp would sue Spacey in September 2020. In the interim, at least 15 more people came forward and alleged Spacey had inappropriately touched them when they were underaged. Spacey has mostly evaded any consequences, although he paid $31 million for violating the sexual harassment policy on the set of House of Cards. He has been charged before and had the case dropped; a civil suit also filed in 2019 would be dismissed.

     On May 26th, 2022, Spacey was charged with four sexual assaults of three men that occurred between 2005 and 2013 in London and Gloucestershire. To be formally charged, he will have to voluntarily turn himself in or be extradited to England and Wales. The disturbing part, one that reinforces what I stated earlier, is that the producers of Peter Five Eight have defended him, calling the criminal charges "rumors" and implying that it was part of some sort of anti-Spacey vendetta timed to "prevent his return to acting" and saying their film was for those who enjoy "art... not scandals." So, according to the producers of this film, rape is a "rumor" or a "scandal" that shouldn't distract from important things like movies. What a fucking disgrace!

     It is a busy time in the fight to hold celebrity sex offenders accountable. Both Ron Jeremy, an adult actor, and Danny Masterson, an acting adult, will face trial this summer over numerous rape allegations. R. Kelly and Ghislaine Maxwell will soon face sentencing and Maxwell, along with Harvey Weinstein, will soon face another trial. Josh Duggar was just sentenced to time behind bars, and Joel Greenberg of Matt Gaetz fame has gotten yet another sentencing extension as he agrees to cooperate with prosecutors until at least August. Meanwhile, stings to catch child predators are continuing at a record pace. It's a fight that seems beyond winning, a fight that seems hopeless in a quest to stop a crime that we seem helpless to stop. However, it is a fight worth fighting, in no small part because of the sort of justice Mr. Spacey is seeing today.