Author and journalist Gay Talese has
defended actor Kevin Spacey over accusations of sexual misconduct.
Talese made his remarks during an
appearance at the New York Public Library's Literary Lions Gala held
on Tuesday night, Vanity
Fair
reported.
When asked whom he would like to
profile, Talese named Spacey.
“I feel so sad, and I hate that actor
that ruined this guy's career,” Talese said. “So, OK, it
happened 10 years ago … Jesus, suck it up once in a while.”
Talese was most likely referring to
Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of
sexual misconduct when the two actors were working on Broadway and
Rapp was 14.
(Related: Kevin
Spacey comes out gay; Apologizes for sexual advances toward Anthony
Rapp at 14.)
Since Rapp named Spacey (Rapp had
previously discussed the incident), multiple men have revealed their
“me too” stories.
“I would like to ask [Spacey] how it
feels to lose a lifetime of success and hard work all because of 10
minutes of indiscretion 10 years or more ago,” Talese added. “You
know something, all of us in this room at one time or another did
something we’re ashamed of. The Dalai Lama has done something he’s
ashamed of. The Dalai Lama should confess … put that in your
magazine.”
On Wednesday, new allegations against
Spacey emerged, as former television news anchor Heather Unruh
accused Spacey of sexually assaulting her son, who was 18 at the
time, in a bar in Nantucket, Massachusetts in July, 2016.
Unruh
said that Spacey got her son drunk then “stuck his hand inside
[his] pants and grabbed his genitals.”