When did Kevin Spacey come out as gay and why did he lose his Emmy?
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Actor Kevin Spacey is facing a slew of allegations and has been stripped of an Emmy Award.
The 58-year-old faces allegations of sexual misconduct and has issued an apology.
Netflix series House of Cards has been cancelled after its sixth season amid the allegations.
If you have been asking who is Kevin Spacey?
What is Kevin Spacey’s background?
Kevin spacey Usual Suspects
Kevin Spacey is 58-years-old and was born on 26 July 1959 in South Orange, New Jersey.
He is a film director, producer, actor and singer.
His career was mainly based on stage in the 1980s, but he became a lot more well known with the release of the Usual Suspects in 1995.
Spacey has also had starring roles in Seven (1995), LA Confidential (1997), Superman Returns (2006), and more recently in Baby Driver (2017).
In London, Spacey was the artistic director of the Old Vic theatre from 2004 to 2015, at which point he stepped down.
One of his most successful roles has been as Frank Underwood in the acclaimed Netflix drama House of Cards.
What awards has Kevin Spacey won?
LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES: Actor Kevin Spacey holds his Oscar for Best Actor for his role in “American Beauty” at the 72nd Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, CA 26 March 2000. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) AFP PHOTO/SCOTT NELSON (Photo credit should read Scott Nelson/AFP/Getty Images)
Spacey won a Tony Award for playing Uncle Louie Lost in Yonkers on Broadway.
The actor has also won two Academy Awards in his career.
He also won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the Usual Suspects and the Oscar for Best Actor for American Beauty in 1999.
Spacey has been honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and has won an Olivier Award for Best Actor.
He has also been nominated for various Emmys, he also won a Golden Globe.
Spacey’s 2017 International Emmy Founders Award was rescinded after plans to give it to the actor this year.
What is Kevin Spacey’s net worth?
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One of the best-known actors globally, Spacey has amassed a fortune of an estimated $100 million through film, theatre and TV work.
What allegations have been made against Kevin Spacey?
Anthony Rapp
The House of Cards actor has faced a stream of sexual misconduct allegations this week, after Anthony Rapp accused him of making sexual advances on him when he was 14.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Star Trek star Anthony Rapp, now aged 46, claimed that when he was a 14-year-old, Spacey invited him to a party at his New York apartment, and while drunk, tried to seduce him by climbing on top of him. Rapp claimed that he managed to flee before the encounter progressed any further.
Spacey said he doesn’t remember the incident over 30 years ago, but apologised for the “deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour.”
In a statement posted to Twitter, Spacey said he was “sorry for the feelings he [Rapp] describes having carried with him all these years” and said that he wanted to deal with the allegations honestly.”
Then on 1 November, Daniel Beal, who was a 19-year-old barman in 2010, said the two-time Oscar winner approached him on his smoke break and showed him his penis.
The actor then insisted that Beal accept his IWC Portofino watch, worth thousands of pounds, for Dan’s £20 plastic Casio.
Beal, who accused Spacey of “grooming,” said he thought the actor “was joking, but he took off his watch and gave it to me.
“Looking back, I realise it was to keep me quiet,” he told The Sun.
Has Kevin Spacey come out as gay?
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Later in Spacey’s statement responding to Rapp’s allegation, he also came out as gay.
He said: “As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women.”
Spacey added: “I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this openly and honestly and that starts with examining my own behaviour.”
For many years, Spacey’s sexuality has been discussed and speculated on, while he has remained coy about his gay relationships.
In 2010, Spacey compared the intrigue into his personal life to the bullying of gay teenagers: “I think what we have seen in terms of gay teenagers committing suicide because of bullying is anguishing.
“I think young people, if they are feeling like they are confused, need to know that there are people to talk to and that there are places they can go and not feel alone.”
Spacey added: “But I feel that they have just as many rights as I do to not be bullied. And I don’t understand people who say, ‘Well, this is a terrible thing that is happening to this young person whose life is being exposed,’ and then turn around and do it to another person.
“People have different reasons for the way they live their lives. You cannot put everyone’s reasons in the same box. It’s just a line I’ve never crossed and never will.”
Was Kevin Spacey’s Emmy taken away because of the allegations?
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The International TV Academy withdrew an honour it was due to give Spacey.
The American Beauty actor was due to be handed the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award in three weeks, on November 20, at a glamorous event in New York.
The Academy released a statement simply saying that “in light of recent events it will not honour Kevin Spacey with the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award.”
Mexican media mogul Emilio Azcárraga Jean is still due to receive the award, which recognises people’s contributions to television around the world.
Did House of Cards get cancelled because of the allegations against Kevin Spacey?
Netflix has suspended production of House of Cards in the wake of the show’s star, Spacey being accused of sexual misconduct.
Responding to the incident, Netflix said executives were meeting with cast and crew and that they had removed Spacey from filming.
Then Netflix and Media Rights Capital (MRC) issued a joint statement saying production of the show had been suspended.
The companies said they would review the situation with Spacey and had suspended production of the sixth season of the show.
“MRC and Netflix have decided to suspend production on ‘House of Cards’ season six, until further notice, to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew,” the statement read.
A representative for Netflix also told The Telegraph earlier in the week: “Media Rights Capital and Netflix are deeply troubled by last night’s news concerning Kevin Spacey.
“In response to last night’s revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported. As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time.”
The show’s creator Beau Willimon also released a statement supporting Rapp.
The statement reads: “Anthony Rapp’s story is deeply troubling. During the time I worked with Kevin Spacey on House of Cards, I neither witnessed nor was aware of any inappropriate behavior on set or off.
“That said, I take reports of such behaviour seriously and this is no exception. I feel for Mr Rapp and I support his courage.”
What has the reaction been to the allegations against Kevin Spacey?
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 16: Actor Zachary Quinto arrives at NBCUniversal’s 2015 Winter TCA Tour – Day 2 at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on January 16, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Angela Weiss/Getty Images)
Stars in Hollywood and beyond have voiced their outrage at the timing of Kevin Spacey’s revelation that he is gay following allegations he made sexual advances on a teenage boy.
The way in which Spacey came out – as he was apologising after allegations of sexual misconduct against a 14-year-old – produced a huge backlash.
Billy Eichner, of American Horror Story, said: “That Kevin Spacey statement. Nope. Absolutely not. Nope.
“Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.”
Comedian Cameron Esposito wrote: “Just wanna be really f***ing clear that being gay has nothing to do w/ going after underage folks”.
She added: “I have not chosen to live my life as a gay woman.
“I’m a gay woman, living my life.”
Sue Perkins, the British TV host who opened up earlier this year about coming out, was scathing, accusing Spacey of harming the LGBT community.
She said: “Well done Kev. You stay silent on your sexuality until the time comes when you can conflate it with an alleged sexual assault on a minor.
“In doing so, you simultaneously undervalue the horrific nature of the allegation and set back the LGBT+ community. Well done.”
Radio presenter Iain Dale reflected many people’s anger when he wrote: F**k you Kevin Spacey.
“Nice work in playing into the homophobes’ playbook – equating being gay with an interest in 14 year olds. Sick f**k.
And political commentator Owen Jones was similarly shocked, writing: “Oh wow.
“Kevin Spacey deflecting from attempting to molest a child by coming out as gay is the absolute pits.”
Talk show host responded to the news by sarcastically writing: “The classiest way to come out of the closet is as a PR smokescreen to distract people from the fact that you tried to molest a child.”
LGBT activist and journalist Dan Savage rejected Spacey’s response out of hand.
“Nope to Kevin Spacey’s statement. Nope. There’s no amount of drunk or closeted that excuses or explains away assaulting a 14-year-old child.”
Another journalist, Mark Harris, voiced his anger about choosing this moment to come out.
“I keep rereading this statement and getting angrier,” he said.
“Coming out is a beautiful part of being gay. Attaching it to this vileness is so wrong.”
