Richard Dreyfuss’ Son Says Kevin Spacey Allegedly Groped Him While His Father Was In The Room

Another person has now come forward claiming Kevin Spacey also sexually pursued him against his wishes, brazenly doing the alleged acts right in front of the young man’s father. Harry Dreyfuss, the son of Richard Dreyfuss, says Spacey groped him when he was 18 during a visit to his father in 2008 during the production of the play Complicit in London. Recounting the incident to Buzzfeed News, Dreyfuss admits that he treated it as a joke the longest time, telling it to class mates in college in hopes of making light of the situation. Then he noticed that people were never laughing.

https://twitter.com/harrydreyfuss/status/926921864139517953

Finally, following the growth of the #MeToo and admissions from others, including actor Anthony Rapp, Dreyfuss says he has finally grasped that what Spacey did to him is wrong and that he considers the actor a “sexual predator,” supported by his story which starts with a chat by the window and moves to a moment where the young man was helping his father practice his lines while Spacey sat beside him:

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.

Dreyfuss says his father saw none of this, with Richard Dreyfuss confirming to Buzzfeed News, and thought about how he didn’t want to cause any trouble at the moment. That soon changed:

I didn’t want the play to be threatened. This job really mattered to my dad, and Kevin was his boss. And besides, I thought, He isn’t really doing anything wrong…And then he did.

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 meager 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. 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.

Dreyfuss’ family has reached out online to show their support for Harry and his story, including Richard Dreyfuss who was “furious” when his son told him about the incident five years later:

https://twitter.com/bendreyfuss/status/926923607162347521

Not all responses online were supportive, with some claiming that Dreyfuss was piling on, was not underage at the time, and adding that Spacey is a “decent” person. The actor/writer addresses this ahead of time in his statement to Buzzfeed while also taking exception to Spacey’s controversial apology:

A lot of people have warned me this could hurt my career because it will make me look like I’m “jumping on the bandwagon.” But as long as the bandwagon is outing a sexual predator…then I’m good with that.

He ends his revealing essay by saying that he hopes it can become an inspiration to others looking for courage to speak out. His story comes a day after Netflix completely severed ties with Spacey.

(Via Buzzfeed News)