Brian Cox defends Kevin Spacey’s return to Hollywood: ‘Let’s move on’

Brian Cox came out in defense of Kevin Spacey. The latter was removed from Hollywood after being accused of sexual abuse.

At the beginning of the year, a UK court considered Spacey innocent of sexually assaulting the four men who came forward with the accusations and nearly two years after a New York jury found him not guilty of molesting the actor Anthony Rapp when he was 14 years old and Spacey he was 26 years old.

The actor of Succession gave his opinion on the situation of Spacey in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter (via NME): “I think he’s been through it. He’s taken the hits that some people think he deserves. He’s ready to get back out there, and people are trying to stop him from doing that.”

“Maybe he crossed the line, but I don’t think he should be eternally punished for it. There should be a case of forgive and forget. Let’s move on. I think he should have the opportunity to go back to work,” he continued.

Cox even talked about the behavior of Spacey in the past. They worked together on Iron Will – The Great Challenge (1994).

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Brian said, “I just think Kevin had certain things that he couldn’t or wouldn’t admit, and I think that was a pressure on him in a lot of ways. And for me, that was the only difficulty in Kevin. But he’s a very talented actor, and I really like his Kevin. He’s very funny.”

Other stars, like Liam Neeson, Sharon Stone, Stephen Fry and F. Murray Abraham also advocated the return of Spacey for the cinema.

New accusations in 2024

Kevin Spacey responded to new allegations of sexual assault addressed in the documentary series Spacey Unmasked (2024) from the British channel Channel 4. In production by Maxnine new victims come forward accusing Spacey of various forms of inappropriate behavior, from sexual harassment on set to masturbation in a movie theater during the invasion of Normandy scene in Saving Private Ryan (1998).

“I take full responsibility for my past behavior and actions,” he said Spacey in his interview on X, with the British journalist Dan Wooton. “But I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who has made up things about me or exaggerated stories about me.”