In a stunning display of circumventing accountability, disgraced actor and millionaire Kevin Spacey recently compared losing work due to sexual assault allegations from over 30 victims to people losing their jobs because of the coronavirus. He expressed this groundbreaking comparison at a virtual business event for a Germany company, Bits & Pretzels, according to the Los Angeles Times. He offered his thoughts in the name of providing perspective on losing a job — because the situation is completely the same, right?
Spacey started his 10-minute speech by saying he knows from experience what it’s like to handle a situation you couldn’t have prepared for. He went on to say, “While we may have found ourselves in similar situations albeit for very different reasons, I still feel that some of the emotional struggles are very much the same,” according to Insider. “And so I do have empathy for what it feels like to suddenly be told that you can’t go back to work, or that you might lose your job, and it’s a situation you have absolutely no control over.”
First — really, Kevin? You couldn’t have anticipated that sexually assaulting over THIRTY people would catch up to you? I mean, sure, it’s Hollywood and white dudes can get away with pretty much anything, but you are really going to say that perpetrating years of abuse against others really caught you off-guard when they actually came forward? A bit indicative of the amount of personal responsibility he’s accepting in a situation that was entirely his fault, if you ask me.
To be (unnecessarily) generous, I’ll admit expressing empathy is a very human response to trauma. But, Kevin, I don’t know if you’re aware of this—you do actually have control over whether or not you sexually assault people. The over 30 million people in the U.S. alone who’ve lost their jobs now do not have any control over the coronavirus. (By the way, Forbes reports that the majority of these people were in the hospitality industry or small businesses, so they likely weren’t even making the money Spacey was). So maybe it’s a bad idea to be equating the worst health crisis we’ve seen in our lifetimes and the economic fallout from that, especially as it affects working-class people, to losing a role in a successful TV show and upcoming movies because you couldn’t keep your damn hands to yourself. It’s really not a good look, even if you vaguely acknowledge the “different reasons.”
how has kevin spacey still not figured out that nobody wants a single damn thing to do with him
— rachel kiley, but staying the fuck home (@rachelkiley) May 7, 2020
Of course, it’s enough to express sympathy for someone’s difficult situation without needing to fit your own narrative into their difficulties. With that said, I have no clue why Kevin Spacey is speaking at a German business conference or why anything he says is of value to that audience. He talks about the emotional struggles of losing his job, but imagine what it’s like to be a victim of sexual assault and watch people like you be punished only by having to leave the public eye (oh, the horror). They have to watch people like Louis C.K., who admitted to masturbating in front of female subordinates, release a comeback special last month after just three years. They had to watch the trial of Harvey Weinstein, a man with mountains of accusations against him, and not know whether or not he would be sentenced (when he was, it was described as “stunning” by The New York Times).
Remember when Anthony Rapp came forward as the first public accuser against Spacey, and Spacey came out as gay, as if that had anything to do with sexual assault allegations? The man has a pattern of not acknowledging the fact of the matter, which is that he effed up, harmed people, and lost his job as a result of it. Besides the interesting timing of coming out, Spacey hasn’t acknowledged or apologized for any of the allegations. I guess that allows him to keep his narrative going that the world just flipped upside down for him one day!
I’ll end with this: just imagine the gall it takes for Spacey to sit in a place of financial security and look for forgiveness and understanding for an apology he never gave, all because other people are now losing their jobs. Meanwhile, he is still being invited to speak at a public forum! Obviously, by the very fact of that, he is not entirely disgraced. And a note to Spacey: if you’re going to make a shitty, nonsensical comparison, at least have the respect to stop skirting around the language and own up to your actions. And try to understand that they had consequences.
Header Image: Haru via YouTube
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