Collapse of Kevin Spacey's criminal case triggers broader debate within #MeToo movement

The collapse of the case against Kevin Spacey has triggered a broader debate within #MeToo.

Could the Hollywood veteran Kevin Spacey claw back his acting career after prosecutors dropped sexual assault proceedings against him?

The collapse last week of the only criminal case against the disgraced Hollywood star Kevin Spacey will set off alarm bells for prosecutors pursuing numerous #MeToo allegations on both sides of the Atlantic.

The case dated back three years, when Spacey, now 59, allegedly groped an 18-year-old boy at a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts, in July 2016.

The accuser said Spacey bought him several drinks before sexually touching him. The teenager sent a stream of text messages to his girlfriend while the alleged assault was happening.

But the case fell apart when Spacey’s accuser refused to give evidence after it emerged that information on the phone had been deleted before it was handed to police.

With the Oscar-winning actor being one of only a few high-profile men in the #MeToo maelstrom to face criminal charges, the disintegration of this case has triggered a broader debate within the #MeToo movement. Could the Hollywood veteran even claw back his career?

“The way that the Spacey case ended is almost a canary in the coalmine for what happens when a movement is played out in a criminal courtroom,” said Mark Geragos, a Hollywood criminal defence lawyer. “As with everything, there’s a pendulum swing.”

Others vehemently disagree with this stance. Gloria Allred, a feminist lawyer who represents alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein, the rapper R Kelly and the financier Jeffrey Epstein, is scathing of the #MeToo critics holding up the Spacey case as evidence of a weakening of the movement.

Robyn Wright and Kevin Spacey in House of Cards.

“It’s absurd. This shouldn’t have any impact at all on victims asserting their rights, or be taken as some kind of loss for the movement,” she said. “This is very fact-specific and there is no way that case could have proceeded.”

What is certain is that Spacey’s legal woes are not over yet. There are continuing investigations in Britain, where he was artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 to 2015.

In May, British police flew to America to interview the actor about six allegations of sexual assault. He also faces investigations in Los Angeles. Time will tell whether any result in criminal charges.

The failed Nantucket case should have zero impact on other investigations, said legal expert Dan Abrams. “When prosecutors get a whole host of allegations they are often stuck with the ones that are the most recent [because of the statute of limitations] and they’re not necessarily the strongest cases,” he added.

However, Geragos, who has represented celebrities including Michael Jackson and the actress Winona Ryder, believes the collapsed criminal case “will give people appropriate pause that sometimes an accusation is just that: an accusation”.

The torrent of allegations against Spacey began in October 2017, after the actor Anthony Rapp claimed that at a party in 1986 the then 26-year-old star tried to have sex with him when he was 14.

The implosion of Spacey’s career was as swift as it was spectacular: his character was killed off in the Netflix series House of Cards and the director Ridley Scott reshot the film All the Money in the World, with Christopher Plummer taking over Spacey’s role.

Fast-forward to today and the prospect of Spacey resurrecting his career is being mooted. While his diehard fans crow that he has been vindicated, Variety, the entertainment industry magazine, suggested that although Spacey should not be exonerated, he may be able to find work eventually.

The article mentioned an Oscar-nominated screenwriter who had already expressed a desire to work with the actor

Pointing out that the cultural and economic #MeToo reckoning does not always align with the legal one, The Atlantic magazine wrote: “One court victory does not mean Spacey, or anyone else with a stack of allegations that they used their power to harass others, is suddenly available as a lead actor again.”

Meanwhile, just as the Spacey case was thrown out, a trailer for a documentary that details the sexual abuse claims against Weinstein sparked headlines.

The film, Untouchable, includes interviews with accusers of the Hollywood mogul. “It’s the collateral damage — what it does to relationships — it steals something,” said one woman in the trailer who claims Weinstein raped her.

The documentary comes out on September 2, exactly a week before Weinstein is due in court. The trial is expected to last five weeks. Weinstein, 67, faces five counts of sexual assault and rape.

He denies all allegations of non-consensual sex.

THE SUNDAY TIMES