Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone say they want Kevin Spacey to return to Hollywood following sexual assault allegations: 'Our industry needs him'

• Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone said they want Kevin Spacey to return to Hollywood.

• Spacey has faced a number of sexual assault allegations in recent years.

• Neeson said he wants Spacey to get back to work: "Our industry needs him."

Liam Neeson and Sharon Stone said they want Kevin Spacey to return to Hollywood, seven years after Spacey was unofficially blacklisted when "Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp accused him of sexual assault.

Neeson told The Telegraph in an interview published on Wednesday that Spacey is "one of our finest artists in the theatre and on camera. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly."

Spacey has faced a number of sexual assault allegations in recent years. In 2017, Netflix fired Spacey from its political drama, "House of Cards," after Rapp claimed he assaulted him at a party in 1986. In October 2022, a New York jury found Spacey not liable for battery in the sexual assault lawsuit Rapp filed against him.

Further allegations came in 2017, when 20 members of staff at the Old Vic theater in London, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004 to 2015, accused him of inappropriate behavior. The theater said an independent investigation could not verify the allegations, but in November 2017 its artistic director publicly apologized to "all those who have come forward."

Separately, four men in London accused Spacey of sexual assault, and he faced nine sexual offense charges over incidents alleged to have taken place between 2001 and 2013. In July 2023, Spacey was cleared of the charges against him.

In an interview with Dan Wootton on May 4, Spacey admitted to having behaved inappropriately in the past but denied the specific allegations made against him.

He said: "I take full responsibility for my past behavior and my actions. But I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who's made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me."

Spacey has not worked in Hollywood since the 2017 accusations, which came amid the #MeToo movement that empowered victims to share their stories, and saw Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein convicted for rape and sexual assault.

Neeson, Stone, and British TV star Stephen Fry have come forward to defend Spacey after the documentary "Spacey Unmasked" documentary was released in May. The documentary about the sexual assault allegations that Spacey has faced also included fresh claims of assault and harassment from crew members on "House of Cards," as well as actors he worked with at the Old Vic.

Neeson told The Telegraph: "I was deeply saddened to learn of these accusations against him. Kevin is a good man and a man of character. He's sensitive, articulate and non-judgmental, with a terrific sense of humor."

"Basic Instinct" actor Stone also echoed Neeson's sentiment, and told The Telegraph: "I can't wait to see Kevin back at work. 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."

The Telegraph wrote that Stone seemingly criticized some of the "aspiring actors" who came forward in the documentary. "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," she said.

Fry also told the newspaper that it is wrong "to continue to harass and hound him, to devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes … how can that be considered proportionate and justified?"

On May 2, Spacey made a statement about the Channel 4 documentary on X. "Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated," he wrote.

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