Kevin Spacey Says His Sexual Scandal Is Not As Big As The Public Thinks

JAKARTA - Kevin Spacey is back talking about the sexual allegations that have brought down his career since 2017. The two-time Oscar-winning actor called the case not a "forest fire", although he admitted to approaching many men.

Citing a report by HuffPost, Tuesday, June 30, Spacey said this in a podcast Club Random with Bill Maher on Monday. He said he now feels more accepted and sees the situation moving in the direction he hopes for.

Spacey's career was hit after actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making a sexual approach when Rapp was 14. Harry Dreyfuss, the son of actor Richard Dreyfuss, also accused Spacey of groping him while his father was in the same room.

The accusation made Spacey lose a number of major projects. He was fired from the Netflix series House of Cards and replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott's film All the Money in the World.

However, Spacey was not held responsible in Rapp's civil lawsuit. In London, the jury also found him not guilty of nine sexual assault charges from four complainants.

To Maher, Spacey alluded to his legal record. He said he won every case decided by a jury.

Maher then said that when looking at scandals, he usually pays attention to the number of accusations. "Too much smoke if there is no fire," he said.

Spacey replied that he never said there was no fire. "It wasn't a big forest fire. It was just a small fire in the kitchen that could be put out with a fire extinguisher," he said.

In the conversation, Spacey also admitted that he had approached many men.

HuffPost reported that Spacey also compared the impact of the scandal to the world of sports. According to him, if he were an athlete, he might only be suspended for seven matches.

Maher and Spacey also discussed the actor's decision to announce he was gay shortly after Rapp's allegations surfaced. The decision at the time drew widespread criticism.

Spacey said he used to be very secretive about his personal life. He didn't want anyone else to know anything about him. He thought he had managed to hide it, although he later realized that many people actually knew.

Maher admitted that he did not understand why Spacey hid his sexual orientation. He assessed that, at a certain point, being gay was actually considered more accepted in popular culture.