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Ian McKellen says Singer, Spacey sex abuse allegations linked to being in the closet
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Actor Ian McKellen leaves from Westminster Abbey in central London on September 11, 2018, after attending a service of thanksgiving for the late English theatre, opera and film director, Peter Hall. (AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)
Sir Ian McKellen has weighed in on sex abuse allegations against director Bryan Singer and actor Kevin Spacey.
McKellen, an LGBTQ+ advocate, was interviewed by BBC Four last Saturday, Feb. 23, at the National Student Pride about the two men, Pink News reported on Monday, Feb. 25.
The “Lord of the Rings” star worked with Singer in the 2000s “X-Men” movies, and Spacey was a collaborator of his in the British theater scene where Spacey was a theater director.
McKellen pinned the abuse accusations on Singer and Spacey being closeted gay men.
“Both of them were in the closet and hence all their problems as people and their relationship with other people,” McKellen said.
“If they had been able to be open about themselves and their desires, they wouldn’t have started abusing people in the way they’ve been accused.”
The actor, 79, himself came out late in life. He was in his late 40s when he publicly announced that he was gay on BBC Radio in 1988.
He also said he was “waiting” for his own #MeToo accusation.
Read also: BAFTA suspends 'Bohemian Rhapsody' director Bryan Singer nomination
“Well frankly, I’m waiting for someone to accuse me of something, and me wondering whether they’re not telling the truth and me having forgotten.”
As for his thoughts on Singer and Spacey working again, McKellen said “it’s up to the public.”
“Do you want to see someone that’s been accused of something that you don’t approve of?” he said.
“If the answer is no, you won’t buy a ticket, you won’t turn on the television. But there may be others for whom that’s not a consideration, and it’s difficult to be exactly black and white.”
Singer told Out magazine in 2014 that he was bisexual. He has since been accused of sexual misconduct by more men.
McKellen previously criticized Spacey in 2017 for coming out only after actor Anthony Rapp accused him of making sexual advances when Rapp was 14. He said it was “reprehensible” how Spacey came out because it made it appear that homosexuality was linked to “underage sex.”
More men have come forward with sexual misconduct claims against the “House of Cards” star.
This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
