Michael Urie and Moises Kaufman, the
star and director of the hit revival of Harvey Fierstein's Torch
Song, respectively, have criticized Kevin Spacey's decision to
come out gay amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
Spacey, whose sexuality has been the
subject of rumors for decades, came out in response to claims made by
Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp, who alleged that
Spacey made unwanted sexual advances toward him when both actors were
working on Broadway. Spacey was 26 at the time, while Rapp was 14.
Rapp's revelation led to other men coming forward with their “me
too” stories.
(Related: Kevin
Spacey comes out gay; Apologizes for alleged sexual advances toward
Anthony Rapp at 14.)
Spacey responded by saying that he had
no recollection of the incident, then pivoted to long simmering
rumors about his sexuality, saying that he now chooses “to live as
a gay man.”
In a conversation published in Sessums
Magazine, Urie and Kaufman, both openly gay, criticized Spacey's
coming out.
“We still have people coming out of
the closet after years of being in it and doing it, as Kevin Spacey
said with that unfortunate turn of a phrase, by choosing to live his
life as a gay man when what he means is choosing to admit I am a gay
man,” Urie
said.
“There was so much wrong with that
Kevin Spacey story,” Kaufman said. “Everything about it was
wrong.”
“It threw back the hands of time so
far between his using of the word 'choice' and the fact that he was
using his gayness to cover up his pedophilia. It was an atrocity,”
Urie said. “It was so self-serving. It completely backfired.”
“Completely.”
“Now his show House of Cards
is over,” Urie added. “And now who knows what’s going to
happen. And the worst part is now we’re talking about him instead
the problem, which are the predators among us. The people who feed
on the weak. The people in power who are taking advantage of the
people who aren’t in power – which is what happened.”