Beau Willimon, the creator of “House of Cards,” has called actor Anthony Rapp’s story that he was sexually propositioned as a 14-year-old by the show’s star Kevin Spacey “deeply troubling.”
“During the time I worked with Kevin Spacey on ‘House of Cards,’ I neither witnessed nor was aware of any inappropriate behavior on set or off,” he said in a statement obtained by TheWrap. “That said, I take reports of such behavior seriously and this is no exception. I feel for Mr. Rapp and I support his courage.”
It is unclear if the incident — for which Spacey issued an apology — would impact upcoming seasons of the Netflix political drama.
In an interview with BuzzFeed published Sunday, Rapp said a then-26-year-old Spacey invited him to a party in 1986, placed him on his bed, climbed on top of him and made a sexual advance before the younger actor was able to “squirm” away.
“I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago,” Spacey said in a message posted on Twitter Sunday night. “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years,” Spacey said.
He also said he was aware of “stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy.” He said he has had relationships with both men and woman and “I chose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”
Many denounced Spacey’s statement on Twitter, accusing him of “changing the subject” and saying his timing was a “bad time to come out.”
After the sexual misconduct charges leveled at figures like Harvey Weinstein and James Toback, Rapp said he felt emboldened to share his own experience with Spacey, who became a two-time Oscar winner and now stars in the Netflix hit “House of Cards.”
Willimon, who also serves as the president of the Writers Guild of America, East, created the Netflix original series “House of Cards” and served as its showrunner for the show’s first four seasons. He is now working on a series for Hulu about a mission to Mars, set to premiere in 2018. He is also serving as the writer on “Mary Queen of Scots” which is currently filming.