Richard Dreyfuss’ son has claimed he was sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey.
The ‘Jaws’ actor’s son Harry has spoken out about the 58-year-old actor – who has recently come out as being homosexual – and the 26-year-old has alleged the ‘House of Cards’ star groped him in 2008 when he was only 18 years old, although he kept the incident a secret from his father for "many years".
Harry has written a first-hand account of the sexual misconduct he suffered at the hand of Kevin, which has been published on Buzzfeed News Online.
In the article, Harry wrote: "When I was an 18-year-old senior in high school, Kevin Spacey groped me.
"It was 2008, and he was directing my father, Richard Dreyfuss, in a play called ‘Complicit’ at the Old Vic in London. I’d come to visit for Christmas break. It happened one night when the three of us were alone in Kevin’s apartment rehearsing my father’s lines. My father didn’t see, and I didn’t tell him about the incident for many years. Instead, I spent the next nine years telling people the story at parties for laughs.
"I remember before it happened I was so excited to meet Kevin. But I was also terrified that he would be just like so many of the characters he plays — a cold, calculating p***k. But the first time I met him, he put all my worries to rest. He saw me and his eyes lit up. He gave me such a warm smile, and instead of shaking my hand, he gave me a hug. Instantly, my young-man-perpetually-seeking-father-figures heart melted. All I remember thinking was ‘you’re so nice.’
"A few days later my father had an appointment to meet Kevin at his apartment to run lines. I came along, excited to get to spend some time with my newest and most famous male authority figure.
"My dad sat in a big chair on the side of the room, while Kevin and I sat on his couch. Kevin was sitting extremely close to me, but I didn’t blink because Kevin handed me the script and told me to read with my dad (playing the part of his wife). The only thing going through my mind at the time was how amazing it was that I was getting to act in front of one of my idols.
"After a few minutes, he put his hand on my thigh. Finally (finally, finally) I became suspicious. It took that long because it just never occurred to me that Kevin would be interested in me in the first place. He was an adult man, a hero of mine, my dad’s boss, none of which were categories on my radar for sexual interactions. Besides, I thought, Surely he can’t be coming on to me like this right in front of my dad. But his hand stayed there. So after a bit, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant safety tactic: I stood up and walked to the other side of the couch, and sat back down. Bulletproof. But without missing a beat, Kevin stood up too, and followed me. He sat just as close and immediately put his hand back on my thigh.
"My dad saw none of this and none of what would follow, because he was deeply focused on his script.
"I was unable to process what was happening: My dad and I were pretending to be lovers in a play while Kevin Spacey was trying to seduce me and all the while in real life I was a hapless, straight virgin who just wanted to become a famous actor.
"Over the course of about 20 seconds, centimeter by centimeter, Kevin crawled his hand from my thigh over toward my crotch. My mind went blank. Suddenly, he had completed his journey and now he had all of me in his hand. I stopped reading the script and my eyes went wide. I lifted up my head and faced him. Looking into his eyes, I gave the most meagre shake of my head that I could manage. I was trying to warn him without alerting my dad, who still had his eyes glued to the page. I thought I was protecting everyone."
But Harry didn’t want to alert anyone to the matter in fear of jeopardising his father’s career.
Harry added: "I was protecting my dad’s career. I was protecting Kevin, who my dad surely would have tried to punch. I was protecting myself, because I thought one day I’d want to work with this man. Kevin had no reaction and kept his hand there. My eyes went back to the script and I kept reading.
"I never once gave him a signal that I would want to be with him in that way."
Harry recounted the horrific ordeal later in life as a "joke" because he felt if he could laugh off the moment he wouldn’t be seen as a "victim".
He explained: "Telling the story as a joke ensured that this was a story I could own. If I could laugh at it, then surely I was not a victim. As a young storyteller from a family dedicated to seeing the funny side of the absurd, this was my way of defanging the whole thing."
However, it wasn’t until he shared the story when he was older he realised the incident was not funny, and he realised Kevin is a "sexual predator".
Harry continued: "That technique fell apart once I got to college and started telling the story to people in the theatre world in New York. Often, they would respond by saying, ‘I know a guy that that happened to as well.’ The victims in many of these stories were often young men … All of these responses made me realise there wasn’t anything funny about my story. It wasn’t a joke. As I write this, 10 people, including actor Anthony Rapp, have come forward with their own allegations, which points to a pattern — Kevin Spacey is a sexual predator. But I still never thought talking about it seriously was ever an option."
And now, almost 10 years later, Harry has realised "how wrong" Kevin’s behaviour was, and he has revealed he was encouraged to speak out after claims against fellow movie mogul Harvey Weinstein – who has alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted multiple stars throughout his career – as well as Anthony Rapp’s claims against Kevin emerged.
He concluded: "Now having had nine years to process it, it finally is clear to me how wrong Kevin’s behaviour was. Not because of how it made me feel. Again, I think being male, and roughly the same size as Kevin, meant that I never felt physically unsafe. My dad was in the room, and I could have alerted him at any time. It didn’t make me feel traumatized, and instead I spun it into a funny story. Kevin Spacey came on to me! He’s famous! Haha!
"This is how I approached finally telling my father when I was in college, four or five years after the incident. He was furious, and I spent the rest of the evening ensuring him that it wasn’t a big deal, and that I would be mortified if he did anything about it.
"As the allegations against Harvey Weinstein came rolling in, and so many women I know posted their stories of sexual abuse during the #MeToo campaign, I came to see how important it is to add my voice to the people who are demanding a better world. A world in which powerful men are no longer allowed to feel safe to do this, or far worse. In retrospect, what disgusts me about Kevin was how safe he did feel. He knew he could fondle me in a room with my father and that I wouldn’t say a word. He knew I wouldn’t have had the guts. And I didn’t.
"In minimizing my own experience all these years, I unwittingly played a role in minimizing it for everyone. That ends now. This was never a funny story. Rather than a punchline, I hope my story can serve as inspiration to others who may have felt that they couldn’t or shouldn’t speak up until now.
"First of all, on the scale of sexual abuse, I felt that what happened to me was relatively minor. It wasn’t until this year, when so many people have bravely come out with their stories, and the demand for a better world has gotten such broad support, that I saw my own story has value … And if telling this story will help others speak up, then it is worth it. I also can’t stand that Kevin, in his apology, tried to distract from the real problem here by coming out, and in so doing managed to undermine all the work the LGBT community has done to do away with the association between paedophilia and homosexuality."
Richard Dreyfuss’ son claims he was ‘groped’ by Kevin Spacey
