George Takei has described Kevin Spacey’s response to the sexual assault allegations against him as a “deflection”.
The former Star Trek actor said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that Spacey’s alleged assault on Anthony Rapp was an abuse of power by the House Of Cards star.
Rapp had alleged that Spacey made sexual advances to him in 1986. Rapp was only 14 and Spacey was 26.
“He was trying to seduce me,” Rapp said.“I don’t know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”
Spacey then responded with a statement on Twitter claiming that he did not recall the incident and was probably drunk at the time.
“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago,” Spacey wrote. “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.”
The American Beauty actor also took the opportunity to come out as gay. “I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man.”
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
However, Takei stated that sexual harassment does not stem from one’s sexuality and Spacey’s actions were an abuse of power.
“When power is used in a non-consensual situation, it is a wrong,” Takei said in his statement to THR. “For Anthony Rapp, he has had to live with the memory of this experience of decades ago. For Kevin Spacey, who claims not to remember the incident, he was the older, dominant one who had his way.”
“Men who improperly harass or assault do not do so because they are gay or straight — that is a deflection. They do so because they have the power, and they chose to abuse it.”
In other news, Takei will produce a film about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.
