Ryan Seacrest diligently avoided talking about anything related to the #TIMESUP or #MeToo movements and accusations of sexual misconduct in Hollywood during his Oscars red carpet interviews. That included when he spoke to Christopher Plummer, who replaced Kevin Spacey in “All the Money in the World” after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct.
Spacey originally played Jean Paul Getty in “All the Money in the World,” but director Ridley Scott replaced him after Anthony Rapp and others accused Spacey of sexual misconduct. Plummer replaced Spacey in reshoots, and his work in the role earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
In his interview, Seacrest brought up the fact that Plummer shot his part in just nine days — but not the context surrounding Plummer’s casting.
“This role, which you took on, and you did what you did in a handful of days. Tell me how different that was from all the other things you’ve done in the past,” Seacrest said.
Seacrest’s second question was: “What makes Ridley Scott so significantly special in your mind?”
Seacrest has denied a stylist’s accusation of sexual misconduct, but E! said Seacrest has been cleared of wrongdoing and kept him as its Oscars host. That has raised eyebrows at a ceremony where the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements are on everyone’s mind.
Though Seacrest didn’t bring up Spacey on the red carpet, E! notably mentioned the context of Plummer’s role in the article it posted based about the interview on eonline.com.
NBCUniversal and E! sponsored an investigation by outside counsel into Seacrest, who is accused of sexually harassing his former E! stylist, Suzie Hardy. E! said it “found insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations” against the “American Idol” host.
Variety reported earlier this month that Hardy accused Seacrest of subjecting her “to years of unwanted sexual aggression” while she was his stylist from 2006-2013, including “grinding his erect penis against her while clad only in his underwear, groping her vagina, and at one point slapping her buttock so hard that it left a large welt still visible hours later.”