Kevin Spacey is regaining support in Hollywood after being blacklisted over harassment and sexual assault allegations during the #MeToo movement, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone led the charge, calling for the House of Cards actor, 64, to be welcomed back into the limelight despite new accusations surfacing against him in a recent documentary.
The A-list actors advocated for Spacey in statements to The Telegraph, which reported that both Neeson and Stone "insist the witch hunt against Spacey must now end."
“I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work," Stone told the outlet. "He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”
The Basic Instinct actress claimed that aspiring actors clearly "wanted and want to be around him." She added that it was "terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn't get their secret agendas."
Neeson echoed these sentiments, expressing that he was "deeply saddened to learn of these accusations against [Spacey]."
"Kevin is a good man and a man of character," the Taken star said. "He’s sensitive, articulate and non-judgmental, with a terrific sense of humour. He is also one of our finest artists in the theatre and on camera. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”
The words of encouragement came a little more than a week after British TV station Channel 4 first aired its two-part documentary, Spacey Unmasked, in which 10 men raised new allegations of inappropriate behavior against Spacey.
The Oscar-winning actor was accused of incidents dating back decades in both the United States and the United Kingdom that were separate from the criminal charges he was cleared of in both countries. The film followed Spacey's rise to fame as a closeted gay man and his fall from grace as he became buried in accusations of sexual misconduct.
He first came out in 2017 in response to allegations by actor Anthony Rapp. At the height of the #MeToo movement, Rapp told BuzzFeed that when he was 14, Spacey allegedly tried to molest him at a Broadway show afterparty. A wave of similar accusations by additional men soon followed.
He was criminally charged in London the following year over claims made by four men. He pled not guilty to the charges and was acquitted last July.
In 2022, a New York jury found Spacey not liable in Rapp's civil suit over the molestation allegation,
The men who came forward in Spacey Unmasked called these outcomes "truly devastating," comparing Spacey's acquittal to "being punched in the face."
“Even though it absolves him of having committed a crime in those cases, I know that his behavior is not morally or ethically acceptable,” one of the accusers said.
Spacey spoke out about the latest allegations, writing in a post on X: "I will not sit back and be attacked by a dying network's one-sided ‘documentary’ about me in their desperate attempt for ratings. There's a proper channel to handle allegations against me and it’s not Channel 4."
Channel 4 stood by its documentary, telling The Telegraph, “Spacey Unmasked is an important film exploring the balance of power and inappropriate behaviour in a work environment, aiming to give a voice to those who have previously been unable to speak out.”