Kevin Spacey has come under fire, after coming out as gay in the same statement apologising after Star Trek: Discovery's Anthony Rapp alleged he made a 'sexual advance' on him when he was just 14.
Rapp alleges that when he was a child star, Spacey invited him to his apartment for a party in New York in 1986 and at the end of the night picked him up, placed him on his bed and climbed on top of him making a sexual advance, but he managed to push him off before leaving.
Rapp told Buzzfeed News he believed Spacey was "trying to seduce me", and Rapp was also "aware that he was trying to get with me sexually".
But while the House of Cards actor posted a statement to Twitter today offering "the sincerest apology", people have criticised the 58-year-old Oscar winner of deflecting from the allegations of misconduct by simultaneously making an announcement about his sexuality.
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: "Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out" while someone else said: "Nope to Kevin Spacey's statement. Nope. There's no amount of drunk or closeted that excuses or explains away assaulting a 14-year-old child."
Another added: "I couldn't give two stuffs that Kevin Spacey is gay. Allegations he sexually harassed a child is what we SHOULD be talking about."
Wanda Sykes added: "No no no no no! You do not get to "choose" to hide under the rainbow! Kick rocks!"
Others are concerned that Spacey coming out in the same statement addressing allegations of a sexual advance on 14-year-old actor will now encourage homophobic perceptions about gay people.
"For a famous person to deflect these accusations with a long-in-the-making coming out is so cruel to his supposed new community it stings," wrote Vanity Fair's film critic Richard Lawson.
"How dare you implicate us all in this."
Spacey said he has "a lot of respect and admiration" for Rapp, and is "beyond horrified to hear his story".
"I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago," he said in his Twitter statement.
"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 those years."
He added: "I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fuelled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy.
"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 and I choose now to live as a gay man.
"I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behaviour."
Rapp's claims come after allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein prompted many people to speak out about their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse.
