Welcome to the first Popping Culture Magazine podcast.
My name is Adam H. Douglas. I’m the Chief Editor, the main writer, and (as of this moment) your host for this brand-spankin’-new podcast.
Popping Culture Magazine is an online culture, entertainment, and celebrity news magazine. What you’ll find here are interviews, essays, reviews, commentary and in-depth reporting on cultural events, artists, and productions. Mostly we’ll center on North American topics, but not exclusively.
Our aim is to bring you a fresh perspective on cultural happenings in our world. Our motto, which you can find right below the title at popping-culture.com, is: Question the Narrative. Which is exactly what we hope to do here.
For our premiere episode, we’re coming out of the gate strong.
We have an exclusive interview with Ana Chevalier, the only journalist in the entire world to publish an in-depth investigation into the Kevin Spacey allegations. And if you think you know the story here, you ain’t heard nothing yet.
Some of the details shocked the hell out of me.
So without any further preamble, let’s get going.
Kevin Spacey trial: background
Back in 2017, Kevin Spacey’s career was on top of the world. The flagship Netflix production of “House of Cards” was a juggernaut of a hit, with 15 awards and great reviews as it started production of its sixth season.
Spacey had received a slew of awards over his career, including two Oscars, a Tony award for Best Featured Actor, and the Laurence Olivier Award for best actor from the Society of London Theatre, just to name a few.
On October 29, 2017, 46-year-old Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making a drunken pass at him after a dinner party in 1986 when Rapp was only 14. Both were working actors on Broadway at the time—in different productions.
Spacey tweeted a reply to the accusation that he had no memory of such an incident but said if it did actually happen, it was undoubtedly the result of too much alcohol and apologized. Spacey also chose to come out as gay in the same tweet.
Additional accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct began to circulate. An article published by CNN said five House of Cards production staff members alleged Spacey had aggressively hit on them. In the article, none of the staff members were named, they all chose to remain anonymous.
Other accusations against Kevin Spacey
Other accusations followed, including two instances that allegedly occurred when Spacey was running the Old Vic Theatre in London. Vulture published an unverified story by an anonymous source known only as “C.D.” alleging Spacey had a long-term inappropriate relationship with him when C.D. was underage back in the mid-eighties.
Spacey’s career came to a crashing halt after Rapp’s story was published on Buzzfeed. It took just five days for one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood suddenly become a pariah, an outcast.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos fired him from House of Cards and shelved Spacey’s already finished film, Gore. Creative Artists Agency severed ties with the actor, and his publicist soon followed suit. Since the fall of 2017, Kevin Spacey has barely worked at all.
Then in September of 2020, the anonymous accuser known as C.D. filed a civil lawsuit against Spacey, seeking $40 million in damages. C.D. managed to convince Anthony Rapp to join his suit and seek an additional $40 million in damages for the alleged drunken come-on incident in 1986.
Embed from Getty ImagesC.D., however, only wanted to proceed with the suit if he could remain anonymous. The judge ruled against his request. C.D. quickly dropped out of the suit, leaving Rapp to go it alone.
More recently, Spacey was charged with four counts of assault by the U.K. courts, he has pled not guilty.
But as for the Anthony Rapp civil suit, the trial is set to begin in just a few days. Jury selection begins tomorrow, October 6th.
Who is Ana Chevalier?
Former journalist Ana Chevalier began investigating the Kevin Spacey allegations soon after the actor’s career came crashing down in 2017. Something about the story didn’t sit right with her. There were not a lot of facts, just mostly anonymous accusations.
Ana had worked as a performer since she was four years old, retiring from the stage at the ripe old age of twenty-three after developing polyps on her vocal cords. Her career interest shifted to journalism and business.
At first, she started investigating the Spacey story out of sheer curiosity. But as she dug deeper, more things didn’t add up.
In 2021 Popping-Culture published her findings in a 5,000+ word article, Kevin Spacey Sexual Assault Allegations: What You Don’t Know, detailing her investigation. Since publication, the article has been read almost two million times.
Check out our new podcast, read what the other news and entertainment publication left out and find out for yourself what all the hype is about.