Stars including Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone want to see Kevin Spacey return to Hollywood several years after he was dropped from Netflix’s House of Cards amid sexual misconduct allegations.
“Kevin is a good man and a man of character,” Neeson, 71, told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper. “He is also one of our finest artists in the [theater] and on camera. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”
The show of support comes as new allegations of inappropriate behavior made against Spacey by 10 more men surfaced in the documentary, Spacey Unmasked, which aired on Channel 4 in the U.K. on May 6.
“I was deeply saddened to learn of these accusations against him,” Neeson said in his statement to the Telegraph.
Hollywood’s Sexual Misconduct Scandals
Spacey, 64, was cleared of all charges against him in a sexual assault trial in the U.K. last July. The year prior, he was found not liable in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him by the actor Anthony Rapp. In a $40 million civil case, Rapp alleged that Spacey assaulted him in 1986 when Rapp was just 14.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Stone, 66, said, “I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. 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.”
Homeland actor F. Murray Abraham also issued a statement saying that he stands with Spacey.
“I vouch for him unequivocally. Who are these vultures who attack a man who has publicly accepted his responsibility for certain behavior, unlike so many others?” said Abraham.
“He is a fine man, I stand with him, and let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” the actor added.
Spacey was fired from House of Cards in November 2017 after mounting allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against him. The same year, he was also cut from the Ridley Scott movie All the Money in the World and his scenes were refilmed with Christopher Plummer playing his character, J. Paul Getty.