Veteran journalist Gay Talese is being slammed for sympathetic comments he reportedly made about actor Kevin Spacey.
According to a Vanity Fair story published Tuesday, the 85-year-old writer told the publication he felt sad for Spacey, who is currently embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal.
“I hate that actor that ruined this guy’s career,” Talese told Vanity Fair. “So, O.K., it happened 10 years ago … Jesus, suck it up once in a while!”
Actor Anthony Rapp first made allegations against Spacey in a story published by BuzzFeed last week in which he said Spacey made a sexual advance toward him at a party in 1986 when Rapp was 14 years old.
Spacey issued a statement claiming he did not recall the incident, but he apologized for what he said would have been “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.”
Soon after, CNN published new allegations of sexual harassment from several current and former members of the “House of Cards” production staff.
One former member of the production staff also accused Spacey of sexual assault. Spacey’s representatives did not reply to a request for comment on the allegations in CNN’s report.
Netflix cut ties with the star on same day Talese spoke with Vanity Fair.
“I would like to ask [Spacey] how it feels to lose a lifetime of success and hard work all because of 10 minutes of indiscretion 10 years or more ago,” Talese told the publication.
The backlash on social media was almost immediate.
“Does Gay Talese not realize that Kevin Spacey’s victims have ‘sucked it up” for decades,'” one person tweeted. “What a putz.”
CNN has reached out to a representative for Talese for further comment.
