Actor Kevin Spacey has apologised for an alleged attempt to seduce a 14-year-old boy more than 30 years ago, an encounter the two-time Oscar winner denies recalling but has attributed to drunkenness, as he also came out as a gay man on Twitter.
But rather than tempering an uproar over the allegation, Spacey's combination of an apology with a statement going public about his sexual orientation stirred a backlash against the actor as Hollywood found itself embroiled in yet another sex scandal.
Adding fuel to the latest controversy was news on Monday that Netflix will soon end the landmark political drama House of Cards, which stars Spacey as a corrupt and closeted bisexual US president.
Netflix spokeswoman Karen Barragan said the determination was made months ago, long before the allegation surfaced against Spacey, 58.
But the internet streaming service and the show's producers issued a joint statement saying they were "deeply troubled" by the accusation leveled against Spacey by actor Anthony Rapp, 46, a member of CBS's new Star Trek: Discovery series.
According to Rapp, in an interview published late on Sunday by BuzzFeed, Spacey in 1986 made an unwanted sexual advance toward him when he was 14.
Rapp said the encounter occurred after a party Spacey hosted at his New York apartment, where he said Spacey, then 26, found him watching TV alone at the end of the night when other guests had left, then carried him to a bed and lay down on top of him.
Rapp said he had the impression that Spacey was drunk, pushed him away and left.
Rapp told BuzzFeed he felt compelled to come forward after dozens of women recently accused movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and several other Hollywood figures of sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Spacey said in a Twitter post on Sunday that he was "beyond horrified" by Rapp's account, which he said he did not recall.
"But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years," Spacey tweeted.
Spacey went on to say that Rapp's story "had encouraged me to address other things in my life."
"As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, I now choose to live life as a gay man," wrote Spacey, who had not previously addressed his sexuality publicly.
