At least 20 additional people claim Kevin Spacey acted inappropriately toward them while he working as Artistic Director of The Old Vic between 2004 and 2015, according to an investigation completed by the theater.
Kevin Spacey was accused of acting inappropriately toward employees of The Old Vic during his tenure there. Spacey pictured here giving a speech at The Old Vic Theatre in 2015. (SAMIR HUSSEIN/GETTY IMAGES)
The Old Vic released a statement on Thursday stating it received 20 personal testimonies of Spacey’s alleged behavior, though would not provide details of specific instances in the release.
General views of The Old Vic theatre on the Cut in central London on November 2, 2017. (DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
The investigation concluded that no one was a minor at the time and those who encountered Spacey’s behavior did not know how to react and therefore did not come forward.
“Staff who observed this behaviour claimed they were unclear about how to respond; in some cases they did not consider allegations of misconduct to be serious and, where they clearly did, they said they did not feel confident that The Old Vic would take those allegations seriously given who he was,” a release from The Old Vic read.
The Old Vic stated that only one of the 20 people coming forward now ever raised the concerns previously or asked for action to be taken. All but two of the instances happened before 2009, according to the investigation.
“No legal claims, formal grievances, formal disputes, settlement agreements or payments made or authorised were made at all in relation to Kevin Spacey during his tenure,” the statement read.
“It has also not been possible to verify any of these allegations, and it is important to note that Kevin Spacey has not commented.”
The London theater made clear that Spacey’s celebrity status may have hindered unknown actors and staff from sharing any advances made by Spacey.
“The Old Vic was in a unique position of having a Hollywood star at the helm around whom existed a cult of personality,” the statement continued. “The investigation found that his stardom and status at The Old Vic may have prevented people, and in particular junior staff or young actors, from feeling that they could speak up or raise a hand for help.”
The theater’s statement issued an apology for not creating a better environment where people would feel safe about coming forward.
Those who came forward were promised that their identities would remain anonymous and The Old Vic stated the committed would be honored.
“On behalf of The Old Vic Board of Trustees, to all those people who felt unable to speak up at the time, The Old Vic truly apologises,” Chairman Nick Clarry said in a statement. “Inappropriate behaviour by anyone working at The Old Vic is completely unacceptable.”
The Old Vic opened a hotline and email account for people to report any inappropriate behavior by Spacey after Anthony Rapp publicly shared his story to BuzzFeed of Spacey trying to seduce him when he was just 14. A number of other men started to come forward with similar stories about Spacey in the following days, leading The Old Vic to hire an external law firm to look into any claims.
A number of actors and former staffers of The Old Vic spoke to The Guardian in early November where they detailed witnessing the inappropriate behavior made by Spacey. Several of the former workers said it was known they were meant to be quiet about it.
Robert Cavazos, a Mexican actor, and another former employee, who chose to remain anonymous, both told The Guardian that Spacey would grope young men and behave inappropriately.
“We were all involved in keeping it quiet. I witnessed him groping men many times in all sorts of different situations,” one of the employees told the publication.
The claims came after The Old Vic had already put in place a process for people to come forward with accusations against the “House of Cards” star.
By: Nicole Bitette
Source: NY Daily News
