Note: The following article contains discussion of sexual misconduct allegations that some readers may find upsetting.
Kevin Spacey has responded to facing a charge of indecent assault by releasing a bizarre video in which he reprises his House of Cards character.
On Monday (December 24), the Cape and Islands district attorney’s office in Massachusetts announced that it will charge Spacey with indecent assault and battery, and that he would be arraigned at a January 7 hearing (reports The Boston Globe).
This case first came to light in November 2017 when journalist Heather Unruh publicly alleged that the actor had groped her 18-year-old son during an encounter at a Nantucket bar the previous year.
At that time, it was reported that her son had filed a police report over the incident and would be cooperating with police. This was one of several criminal investigations into Spacey’s conduct in the US and the UK, although it is the first to lead to criminal charges.
At the same time as news of this charge broke on Monday, Spacey released a video on his Twitter account called ‘Let Me Be Frank’ — in which he appears to obliquely address his sexual misconduct scandal in the guise of his House of Cards character Frank Underwood.
“I know what you want,” he says. “Oh sure, they may have tried to separate us, but what we have is too strong, too powerful. After all, we shared everything, you and I.
“I told you my deepest, darkest secrets. I showed you exactly what people are capable of.
“I shocked you with my honestly, but mostly I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn’t. So we’re not done, no matter what anyone says. And besides, I know what you want. You want me back.”
He also hits out at the “poppycock” headlines in the press, condemning them as “impeachment without a trial”.
“Of course, some believed everything and have been just waiting with bated breath to hear me confess it all. They’re just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved. Only you and I both know it’s never that simple, not in politics and not in life,” he says in the video.
“All this presumption made for such an unsatisfying ending, and to think it could have been such a memorable sendoff… I can promise you this. If I didn’t pay the price for the things we both know I did do, I’m certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn’t do.”
He also references his character Frank Underwood’s off-screen death in House of Cards, saying: “My confidence grows each day that soon enough, you will know the full truth. Wait a minute, now that I think of it, you never actually saw me die, did you? Conclusions can be so deceiving.”
Digital Spy has reached out to Spacey’s representatives for additional comment. Last year, Spacey sought “evaluation and treatment” after Star Trek: Discovery‘s Anthony Rapp accused him of making a ‘sexual advance’ on him in 1986 when Rapp was 14.
“If I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all those years,” Spacey said at that time.
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct. If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
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