Kevin Spacey Torched for Using His Response to Sexual Misconduct Claims to Come Out as Gay

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After actor Anthony Rapp came forward to allege that Kevin Spacey made a sexual advance toward him when he was 14 and Spacey was 26, Spacey used his response to the allegations to finally publicly come out as a gay man—a turn of events that people aren’t happy about.

“As those closest to me know, in my life 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,” Spacey said in a statement posted on Twitter early Monday morning. “I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”

Spacey also apologized to Rapp, who claimed that the actor laid on top of him at the end of a party in his apartment, saying he “honestly” doesn’t remember the encounter Rapp described.

“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been 30 years ago,” Spacey tweeted. “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.”

There’s long been speculation about the the famously private actor’s sexuality, which seemed all-but-confirmed after Spacey hosted last year’s Tony awards with copious wink-and-nod jokes about coming out. There have also been rumors of Spacey acting inappropriately with young men for years. But Spacey’s decision to use this moment—when he stands accused of sexual misconduct against a child—to come out as gay roiled Twitter users, who also charged Spacey with framing his sexuality as a choice.

Don’t forget whose story is most important in the here and now.

WHAT ELSE?

• The first charges in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe could be made public as early as today after a judge approved the charges on Friday, CNN reported. It’s not yet clear exactly what the charges are, but former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has reportedly been told to turn himself in.
• Open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act begins on Wednesday, despite any misinformation that the Republicans are spreading.

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