Graham Norton slammed for Kevin Spacey joke
Graham Norton hosting his show on the BBC. (BBC)
TV host Graham Norton has been criticised for a joke he made about Kevin Spacey on his show.
Fans of the star hit out at the joke, which was followed by an appearance by Johnny Depp, who has been accused of domestic violence.
Spacey has been accused of a raft of incidents of sexual misconduct by various people.
In his opening monologue, Norton said: “It has been a week of sleaze, hasn’t it? A week of sleaze. There have been so many allegations, people’s careers are collapsing like a house of… dominoes.”
Adding: “Journalists are struggling to come up with enough words to describe the inappropriate behaviour. Touchy-feely, handsy, sleazy, Spacey.”
Spacey has repeatedly been accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour this week, since Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making sexual advances on him when he was 14.
Anthony Rapp
In response, Spacey wrote on Twitter that he didn’t remember the incident, but apologised for “what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour.”
The Baby Driver actor added that he was “sorry for the feelings he [Rapp] describes having carried with him all these years,” before saying: “I choose now to live as a gay man.”
Depp appeared on the Graham Norton show alongside other stars from Murder on the Orient Express.
Other stars included Michelle Pheiffer, Dame Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Gad and Johnny Depp.
Depp was accused of ex Amber Heard of domestic violence. She posted videos and images of herself during court hearings around their divorce.
Late last May, Heard alleged that Depp had thrown a mobile phone at her during an argument on Saturday.
The judge said Depp should refrain from contacting Heard after she showed a photo of her own bruised eye and cheek at the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Fans made a link between the joke about Spacey and the appearance by Depp on the show.
One wrote: “So the Graham Norton show starts with him making ‘cheeky’ jokes about the harrassment story then one of the guests is … Johnny Depp? Hmm.”
Another added: “So there’s an alleged Domestic abuse perpetrator on #grahamnorton’s sofa tonight. Not inappropriate at all…#ViolenceAgainstWomen.”
A third added: “Uncomfortable Graham Norton show tonight. Opens with Kevin Spacey put-downs, introduces Johnny Depp to huge applause. No hint of irony.”
But some defended the show, with one Twitter user saying: “What irony? Johnny Depp has been proven innocent already.”
The Old Vic theatre has been accused of a “breach of trust” by an actor who allges that he was groped by Kevin Spacey.
Spacey was this weekend sacked from the shelved Netflix hit ‘House of Cards’ amid a raft of sexual misconduct allegations.
In the wake of these allegations and Spacey’s response, Netflix announced that House of Cards would be ending after its sixth season.
And the streaming company announced the next day that it was suspending production on the show’s sixth season.
Earlier this week it was reported that Spacey sexually harassed numerous people on the House of Cards set, turning it into a “toxic” environment, eight people have claimed.
One staffer, a former production assistant, said that Spacey sexually assaulted him during one of the early seasons of the show.
All eight employees called Spacey’s behaviour “predatory,” adding that it included non-consensual touching and sexual comments.
(Netflix)
The two-time Oscar winner, who is executive producer on the show, generally targeted production staff who were young and male, they said.
British police are currently investigating an allegation of sexual assault made against Spacey.
An alleged victim claimed today that after being invited to Spacey’s London home for a drink in 2008, he passed out – and woke to find the Hollywood star performing oral sex on him.
(Netflix)
The Seven star has been dropped by both his publicist and talent agency following numerous allegations.
And now Spacey has been sacked by Netflix from House of Cards.
“Netflix will not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement.
“We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the show. We have also decided we will not be moving forward with the release of the film Gore, which was in post-production, starring and produced by Kevin Spacey.”
One of the eight former and current House of Cards staffers, a production assistant, said that Spacey sexually assaulted while he was bringing the actor from an offsite location to the set.
Just minutes away from their destination, with Spacey driving the car, the star of the show put his hands down the staffer’s trousers, he said.
(Netflix)
The touching was not consensual, he added, recalling: “I was in a state of shock.
“He was a man in a very powerful position on the show, and I was someone very low on the totem pole”.
After helping to take Spacey’s belongings from the car to the actor’s trailer, Spacey cornered him in the trailer, he said, blocking his escape and making inappropriate contact with him.
“I told him: ‘I don’t think I’m ok with this, I don’t think I’m comfortable with this,'” he said.
(Netflix)
Another crew member, who has worked on House of Cards for its entire run, said Spacey routinely harassed and touched him.
(Netflix)
This crew member said he did not “feel comfortable” asking Spacey to stop.
“That’s the worst part about this whole thing. I would love to be able to speak out about this kind of stuff and not fear.”
(Netflix)
A former camera assistant said employees did not make the alleged incidents public because they were scared of losing their jobs.
(Netflix)
A former production assistant who worked on several seasons of the show said she also witnessed Spacey’s sexual misconduct on the set.
(Netflix)
Spacey did not respond to CNN’s request for comment about these allegations.
“Netflix is not aware of any other incidents involving Kevin Spacey on-set.”
The company added: “We will continue to work with MRC during this hiatus time to evaluate our path forward as it relates to the production”.
MRC, the show’s production company, told CNN that they have set up “an anonymous complaint hotline, crisis counselors, and sexual harassment legal advisors for the crew.”
(Getty)
The current slew of sexual misconduct allegations in Hollywood – and further afield, including the British Parliament – started with accusations against Harvey Weinstein, who has also sought “treatment.”
After Rapp’s story was made public, filmmaker Tony Montana accused Spacey of having sexually assaulted him in 2003, saying: “He put his hand on my crotch forcefully and grabbed my whole package.”
Tony Montana (YouTube/tony montana)
Another alleged victim, Daniel Beal, said that Spacey showed him his penis in public when he was 19, before giving him his £5,000 watch to buy his silence.
“He said: ‘It’s big, isn’t it?’ He leaned over and tried to pull my hand towards it,” Beal told The Sun.
Dan Beal (Facebook/dan beal)
He accused Spacey of “grooming”.
Another man, who did not reveal his name, told the BBC he was left traumatised after waking to find Spacey lying on him, in his underwear, with his arms wrapped around him.
The man, who was a teenager at the time, said Spacey’s behaviour during that weekend was “either very stupid or predatory – or maybe a little of both.”
He added: “It seems he was grooming me.
(Getty)
Mexican actor Rob Cavazos has also alleged that Spacey approached him in “unpleasant encounters” which he said he would have termed “harassment” if he were a woman.
Cavazos was at London’s Old Vic Theatre at the same time as Spacey, who was the venue’s artistic director for a decade.
He said the American Beauty actor was commonly found at the theatre bar, “squeezing whoever caught his attention.”
Roberto Cavazos (Facebook/roberto cavazos)
Cavazos – who has been in Rush and and Doctor Who – said: “There are many of us who have a ‘Kevin Spacey story’.
“It seems that it only took a male under 30 to make Mr Spacey feel free to touch us.
Today, another alleged victim claimed that Spacey had a sexual ‘relationship’ with him when he was a child, before trying to rape him.
(Getty)
Speaking to Vulture, the latest alleged victim – now a 48-year-old artist living in the US with his long-term partner – said Spacey approached him when he was 14.
After three or four sexual encounters and proclamations of love, Spacey invited him over and attempted to rape the child, he said.
(Getty)
“I guess he must have come up behind me and yanked down my baggy jeans, and he goes to f*** me and I’m like, ‘No, I don’t want to.’
“And he pushes hard, and grabs me, and starts shoving up against my asshole, and it hurts like a motherf***er.
(Getty)
“I again tell him no, and he tries again.
“I am strong enough, thank God, both somewhere in my brain and in my body, to get him off of me. I’m sturdy, thankfully.
Spacey in 2000 (Getty)
“I throw him off of me and I run crying down the stairs and out into the street and then suck it all up and go have dinner.”
“I always have said: ‘He tried to rape me.’
He added that the actor was “a paedophile and a sexual predator.”
(Getty)
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 on November 20, at a glamorous event in New York.
