Sharon Stone says 'there's so much hatred' for Kevin Spacey because abuse allegations were 'man-on-man'

Sharon Stone is defending herself amid backlash for supporting Kevin Spacey, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen men since 2017.

"People are mad at me for that,” Stone told The Hollywood Reporter of her previous comments on the matter. “I said that after being in therapy for seven years, not being allowed to work, losing his home, losing everything, he should be allowed to come back. He’s reached out to everybody he’s offended and said he’s sorry.”

She continued, “Kevin grabbed people by their genitals. Many people. But nobody [has publicly said] he’s raped them or forced them into a sexual encounter. But there’s so much hatred for him because in his case it was man-on-man.”

The Oscar-nominated actress, who has long been outspoken about her own experiences with sexual harassment in Hollywood, went on to say that the negative response to Spacey is due to his alleged victims being men rather than women.

“That’s why he’s not allowed to come back. Because he offended men,” she argued. “But can I tell you how many men have grabbed my genitals in my lifetime? A lot more than Kevin Spacey has grabbed men’s genitals. And none of them has ever apologized to me.”

In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Stone clarified her comments: "I did not defend him and I am not defending him," she said of Spacey. "When someone does seven years of recovery from any compulsive behavior whether it is drugs, alcohol or sexual addiction and then takes responsibility for it, in our business we allow them to come back to work with their sponsor. This is the only case I have seen where that has not been the case. My observation is that this is because it is a man-on-man sex crime. And we have not been responsible at all for men-on-women sex crimes and that there must be a middle line.”

Spacey was acquitted in 2023 of sexually assaulting four men, and was found not liable in a 2022 civil lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of molesting him in 1986 when he was 14, and Spacey was 26. Spacey is currently involved in another civil trial in the U.K. in which he's accused of sexually assaulting a man in 2008. He has denied the allegations.

Stone additionally told THR she can relate to Spacey, as she too has “been canceled left and right" but "now I’m back in fashion again."

"Here’s the thing — I’m a dark horse. I love dark horses," she continued, "I don’t want to be a white horse or wear a white hat. And I get that not everybody thinks I’m a good person. I get that people think I’m difficult. But I’m the person who wants to make sure you have water to drink and wants to make sure you have books to read and somewhere to read them."

Stone was one of several stars who called for Spacey's return to Hollywood earlier this year following the Channel 4 documentary series Spacey Unmasked, which saw 10 men accuse the American Beauty actor of inappropriate behavior.

“I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work,” Stone told The Telegraph in May. “He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.” 

She added, "It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas.”

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Others who have spoken in defense of Spacey include Liam Neeson, F. Murray Abraham, and Stephen Fry. Earlier this year, First Reformed filmmaker Paul Schrader expressed interest in collaborating with Spacey on a Frank Sinatra biopic in the wake of his acquittal. “Cancel culture won’t let him go,” Schrader told Variety. “I would not use Kevin if he had been convicted. But he was not convicted.”

Since Rapp’s accusation in 2017, Spacey has appeared in four films: Once Upon a Time in Croatia, The Man Who Drew God, Control, and Peter Five Eight.