Kevin Spacey has decided to compare the sexual assault allegations made against him and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The disgraced House of Cards actor, who came out as gay in 2017 after being accused of making a sexual advance toward actor Anthony Rapp when the latter was 14 years old, appeared on the Bits & Pretzels podcast to imply he related to those who had been without work since most of America went into lockdown.
"I don't often like to tell people that I can relate to their situation because I think it undermines the experience that they may be having, which is their own unique and very personal experience," said Spacey, according to the Daily Mail. "But in this instance, I feel as though I can relate to what it feels like to have your world suddenly stop. ... And so while we may have found ourselves in similar situations, albeit for very different reasons and circumstances, I still believe that some of the emotional struggles are very much the same."
Spacey has been accused of sexual misconduct by over 15 men in the film industry since 2017, with many underage at the time the alleged incidents took place. "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 that it's a situation that you have absolutely no control over," said Spacey, explaining it has been a "painful" journey for him following the allegations.
"I don't think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017," he added.
Following the allegations, Spacey made his first public appearance when he randomly recited a poem about a dejected boxer outdoors in Rome. He later resurfaced as his House of Cards character Frank Underwood on his YouTube channel, in which he advised viewers to "kill them with kindness."
