Kevin Spacey dropped from Netherlands speaking event; More men accuse actor of sexual assault
Dutch bank ING decided to drop Kevin Spacey as a speaker at a BusinessBoost event later this month following multiple accusations of sexual assault against the American actor, the bank announced in a statement sent to NL Times on Friday.
Spacey was set to be the headliner at the BusinessBoost event in Rotterdam on November 29th."In view of the commotion caused by allegations of sexual misconduct surrounding Kevin Spacey, ING has decided it is no longer desirable to have him speak at the event", the statement reads. "At the same time his presence could distract from the aim of BusinessBoost Live: inspiring entrepreneurs and helping them be successful in achieving their ambitions. After careful consultation with Kevin Spacey's management, ING has decided to end the collaboration."
This decision comes two days after Spacey's publisher, Staci Wolf, announced that the actor is seeking treatment following the allegations made against him. Exactly what type of treatment was not revealed. On Thursday Wolf announced that she and Creative Arts Agency are parting ways with the actor, according to CNN.
On Sunday, Buzzfeed published an interview with actor Anthony Rapp where he accused Spacey of making aggressive sexual overtures towards him in 1986, when he was 14 years old. According to Rapp, Spacey laid down on top of him when they were alone in a hotel room. "I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually", he said. Since then, several other men came forward with stories that Spacey sexually assaulted or harassed them, including crew members of hit Netflix show House of Cards in which Spacey stars.
Eight people who worked or are still working on House of Cards told CNN that Spacey turned the show into a "toxic" work environment through sexual harassment. They described the actor's behavior as "predatory", saying it ranged from crude comments to non-consensual touching. One former production assistant, who worked on an early season of the show, told CNN that Spacey put his hands down the assistant's pants when he was sent to pick the actor up and drive him to the set. "I was in a state of shock", he said. "He was a man in a very powerful position on the show and I was someone very low on the totem pole and on the food chain there."
The production assistant told a supervisor that Spacey was harassing him, and the supervisor arranged that the production assistant would never be alone with the actor while they were on set, he told CNN. "I have no doubt that this type of predatory behavior was routine for him and that my experience was one of many and that Kevin had few if any qualms about exploiting his status and position", he said to the news agency. "It was a toxic environment for young men who had to interact with him at all in the crew, cast, background actors."
