An extremely old Family Guy joke is doing the rounds following the allegations of sexual misconduct by Kevin Spacey.
In the 12-year-old episode, a naked Stewie runs through a crowded shopping mall yelling, “Help! I’ve escaped from Kevin Spacey’s basement!”
Family Guy with the Kevin Spacey reference twelve years ago… creepy. pic.twitter.com/bVbEOLlAwz
— Numbersmuncher (lol I’m not paying $8 for a check) (@NumbersMuncher) October 30, 2017
It comes after Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp went on the record to accuse Spacey of making an unwanted sexual advance on him when he was 14 years old.
In response, Spacey apologised for his actions but said he did not remember them. He also confirmed his sexuality after years of speculation, a move that was widely criticised for both attempting to deflect from the accusations and for making the dangerous conflation between homosexuality and pedophilia, a stigma gay men have been fighting against for decades.
Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) October 30, 2017
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was also recently in the news for confirming that his ‘joke’ about Harvey Weinstein at the 2013 Academy Awards – where told the best supporting actress nominees that they “no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein” – was made after his friend, Jessica Barth, confided in him that Weinstein had sexually harassed her.
It almost feels like Seth MacFarlane knows a lot of Hollywood secrets and uses family guy to deliver them piece by piece
— kenna (@kennagq) October 30, 2017
Rumours of Spacey’s “aggressive” behaviour towards young men have been speculated about for years, with the now-defunct website Gawker publishing several stories about it.
Gawker founder Nick Denton took to his personal blog to comment on the allegations.
“The recent torrent of public allegations against celebrities such as Harvey Weinstein, Terry Richardson and James Toback is unprecedented. The stories have been circulating on the industry grapevine, and on blogs and social media, and among women especially, for years. The headlines are shocking – unless you read Gawker before it was shut down, in which case this may feel like a throwback.”
Rapp said that he’s speaking out about Spacey to “hopefully make a difference” for the “many courages women and men who have been speaking out” about sexual harassment.
I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out 1/3
— Anthony Rapp on Mastodon @albinokid@nerdculture.de (@albinokid) October 30, 2017
Everything I wanted to say about my experience is in that article, and I have no further comment about it at this time.
— Anthony Rapp on Mastodon @albinokid@nerdculture.de (@albinokid) October 30, 2017
Netflix has cancelled its flagship show House of Cards following the Spacey allegations.
