Kevin Spacey denies targeting Guy Pearce during shooting of LA Confidential: ‘Grow Up… You’re not a victim'
Actor Kevin Spacey, in a fiery video post on social media, hit back at Guy Pearce after the latter said he felt ‘targeted’ while shooting for L.A. Confidential
Actor Kevin Spacey has addressed remarks made by his former co-star Guy Pearce, who recently stated that he was “targeted” by Spacey while they were filming the acclaimed 1997 film L.A. Confidential.
“We worked together a long time ago. If I did something then to upset you, then you know you could have reached out to me. We could have had that conversation,” Spacey said in a video posted on X, directly addressing Pearce.
Spacey explained that members of the press had been contacting him following Pearce’s comments, seeking his response. “You really want to know what my response is? Grow up,” he said.
The remarks Spacey was referring to were made during an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. Pearce, who has been nominated for an Oscar for the first time in his career for his role in The Brutalist, was asked by host Scott Feinberg if he had a positive experience working with Spacey. Over the years, Spacey has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, the first of which surfaced in 2017 as part of the #MeToo movement – all of which he has denied.
“People know that I didn’t, and I’ve sort of spoken publicly about it,” said Pearce, who starred in the noir film alongside fellow Australian actor Russell Crowe and Spacey. “I did that thing I think a lot of people do. I don’t want to use the word ‘victim’ even though I probably was a victim to a degree. I was certainly not a victim by any means to the extent that other people have been to sexual predators,” he added.
During the podcast, Pearce also admitted that at the time, he “brushed off” his discomfort, dismissing it as “nothing.”
“And I did that for five months and really I was sort of scared of Kevin because he’s quite an aggressive man, extremely charming and brilliant at what he does—really impressive, etc. He holds a room remarkably. But I was young and, you know, susceptible, and he targeted me, no question,” Pearce said.
In his video statement, Spacey claimed that Pearce had visited him in Savannah, Georgia, about a year after they had finished filming, to spend time with him. At the time, Spacey was working on Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
“Did you tell the press that, too, or does that not fit into the victim narrative you have going?” Spacey said. “So, anyway, I apologise that I didn’t get the message that you don’t like spending time with me. I mean, maybe there was another reason. I don’t know, but that doesn’t make any sense that you would have just been leading me on, right?”
Spacey stated that he “would have preferred not to play this out in the media,” adding, “you obviously have your own reasons for wanting to do exactly that.”
“Here you are now, on a mission, some 28 years later, after I’ve been to hell and back, to do what? Just in time to stop the bad guy?” Spacey said, further insisting that he has “nothing to hide” and inviting Pearce to have a conversation with him.
“But, Guy, you need to grow up. You are not a victim,” Spacey concluded.