Kevin Spacey pulls out of ‘1242: Gateway to the West’ over sexual assault case

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More recently, we wrote about 62-year-old Spacey when he landed the lead role of Batu Khan in the British-Mongolian-Hungarian historical drama 1242: Gateway to the West. Before the actor had time to rehabilitate himself in Hollywood, he was again overtaken by problems with the law – at the end of May, several men charged him with sexual violence. New lawsuits put an end to Spacey’s participation in the tape.

Spacey’s removal from the role was announced by the film’s producer, Bill Chamberlain. According to him, the role of Batu Khan will be given to another actor. However, who is still unknown.

Given that the next trial is scheduled for the summer of 2023, during the year we are unlikely to see Kevin Spacey in new screen images. Note that Spacey still managed to star in the Italian film “The Man Who Attracted God” last year, but received a minor role.

Spacey’s first accusations of sexual harassment against minors appeared at the end of 2017. Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp has claimed that when he was 14 years old, Spacey tried to seduce him. According to Rapp, in the early 80s, the actors played in one of the Broadway musicals. One day, 25-year-old Spacey invited a 14-year-old colleague to a party at his home. After the guests dispersed, Spacey laid the guest on the bed and lay down on top. There was no contact between them: Rapp managed to free himself from Spacey’s embrace. According to the actor, he decided to make a confession after a scandal broke out with producer Harvey Weinstein. In his blog, Kevin Spacey, who was forced to confess his bisexuality, turned to Anthony Rapp and apologized to him.

In addition to Rapp, he was accused of a sex crime by an anonymous man who signed with the initials CD and stated that he attended Spacey’s acting classes at the age of 12. In a lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court, CD says Spacey invited him to his apartment and “had sex with him.” During their last meeting, Spacey attacked the teenager, although he tried to fight back.

After Rapp’s statements in 2017, Kevin was accused of several more sexual crimes, but only one case came to court, which, however, did not end with anything. The hearing was adjourned due to the unavailability of a witness for the prosecution. The result of all these scandals was the dismissal of Spacey from the series “House of Cards” (his hero was taken out of the plot of the final season) and the drama “All the Money in the World”, as well as the termination of other contracts in projects that were just preparing for filming.

In November 2021, MRC, the film studio behind House of Cards, won a breach of contract case against the actor following a sex scandal that tarnished the show’s reputation. Spacey was ordered to pay the film company $31 million.