Kevin Spacey Is Cancelled

I'm not going to lie, "House of Cards" is one of my favorite shows ever. Of course, it comes second to "Breaking Bad," but that's beside the point. Frank Underwood's one-liners are so on point, so don't be afraid to admit that you have dramatically quoted "If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table," before. I tolerate Frank's sociopathic behaviors on House of Cards because Frank Underwood is a fictional character and House of Cards is a masterpiece of fiction.

You know what isn't fiction? Sexual assault. That is very, very real.

This past weekend, actor Anthony Rapp came forward and revealed how in 1986 after Kevin Spacey invited him to his hotel room, the then 26-year-old actor proceeded to climb on top of the then 14-year-old Rapp and tried to seduce him. Rapp voiced that he was encouraged to reveal Spacey's alleged sexual advances towards him after keeping it a secret for decades due to the victims of Harvey Weinstein that have come forward recently. A few hours after Rapp came forward, Kevin Spacey tweeted out a two-paragraph statement in response to the allegations that was a half-assed apology in more than one way.

The first paragraph of the response includes how Spacey cannot recall their encounter as it must have happened 30 years ago and if he did any wrong, it was due to "deeply inappropriate drunken behavior." Wow, if only Spacey was as good at deflecting a subject off of him as he is at acting like a lovable sociopath in his films. But fortunately, the audience can see right through that "apology."

Unfortunately, the statement only gets worse after the first paragraph. Spacey tries to flip the script from these serious allegations to coming out as a gay man living in the shadows. Comedian Billy Eichner accurately reacts to Spacey's statement with "Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out."

When Spacey changed the subject from the atrocious act he was accused of to the narrative on his sexual orientation, I felt quite angry. His statement on his sexuality came out of nowhere as he started the second paragraph with "This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life." It's rich how Spacey addressed Rapp's truth as "this story" like the experience Rapp shared is one of fictional nature portrayed in one of his films. I don't know what I was expecting, but I definitely did not expect Spacey to continue on discussing his personal life. Obviously, Spacey coming out as gay isn't what I'm concerned about, it is the fact that he had the audacity to reveal his sexuality to the world as a form of his attempt at neutralizing the severe situation.

All I can gather from Spacey's "apology" is that this whole thing was just a weak and unsuccessful attempt at lessening the backlash he is inevitably and deserving of getting. The fact that Spacey seemed to use the narrative that he's gay in order to lessen the blow of the accusations is beyond incredulous.

It's such a shame his acting over the past few decades has been great — or at least very respected — because his accomplishments are already tainted with this new revelation as it should be.