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Hear what he had to say about this whole mess!
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Oct 17, 2019
Ever since the Kevin Spacey allegations brought a whole new dimension to the #MeToo movement, his alleged victims have been waiting for a reckoning. But now, with this latest round of charges being dismissed, one of his accusers is speaking out, and loudly, about the whole mess. Who is Tony Montana?
Kevin Spacey was flying high off the success of the hit Netflix show, House of Cards. He was a well-respected actor who consistently got booked for jobs and won several acting awards for his long and notable career. But there was one thing he couldn't escape: the rumors of his predatory behavior. Now, the rumors about Kevin Spacey had been a "Hollywood secret" for many years prior to the #MeToo movement. [This writer can recall them very vividly during the time she lived in Los Angeles and worked on a few Oscar campaigns.] But what today's industry insiders don't understand is that, "back in the day," the threat of one's job was a very real thing. A powerful man could potentially blackmail a woman into silence with the threat of her job, with the implication that there are at least a thousand behind you waiting to take your place.
For Tony Montana's part, he too had a career in the film industry, though he was nowhere near as powerful in Hollywood as Kevin Spacey was. He got his start being a wrestling heel (a fake one, believe it or not) on ESPN and Sportschannel, and eventually moved on to filmmaking. In fact, when Roger Ebert first joined Twitter, Tony Montana was one of the first filmmakers he tweeted about. He was also one of Kevin Spacey's loudest accusers, and claimed that the actor assaulted him in 2003. Why he was sidelined, and his story not immediately believed, is a testament to how far and wide Spacey's reach really was, and how others can easily be bullied into silence.
But let's look at what we know about Tony Montana, one of Kevin Spacey's accusers.
1. He's an actor and a director.
Vulture identifies Tony Montana as an actor and a director. The outlet reports that he was one of the first Kevin Spacey accusers to come forward when back in 2017, he accused Spacey of grabbing his genitals while they were in a bar together. Montana said that he tried to push Spacey away, but Spacey ended up following him to the bathroom. It was then that Montana spotted some of Spacey's friends, and told him to "get their boy."
2. Tony Montana came forward again, after it was revealed that Kevin Spacey's teenage accuser dropped the civil lawsuit.
"A court filing on behalf of the young man accusing Spacey of groping and assaulting him in 2016 says the suit is being dismissed 'with prejudice.'" That means it cannot be refiled. "It's very possible that the victim and his family have concluded that this fight is one that's no longer worth it for their family," said WCVB-TV legal analyst Greg Henning. That said, it also bears stating that Kevin Spacey called these accusations "patently false," though when it was revealed that his teenaged accuser dismissed the lawsuit, Tony Montana came forward again with his own opinions.
3. He blasted Kevin Spacey in an exclusive Radar interview.
"Kevin continues to behave like an immature, defiant and Godless malcontent, a man without an industry, chronically unable to get past himself,” he said exclusively to Radar, while adding that he never filed charges against the Horrible Bosses actor.
4. Tony Montana never got a reckoning from Kevin Spacey, and industry professionals want to know why.
The Atlantic raised some very interesting questions about Kevin Spacey: why are we trying to separate the art from the artist when we know, from Tony Montana and others, that he's so monstrous in his private life? Perhaps our willingness to overlook too much bad behavior "because he's a good actor" is why we've turned a blind eye to Kevin Spacey's predations for so long. When is enough, really enough?
5. Just because the charges are dismissed doesn't mean that Kevin Spacey is vindicated.
"The accusations against Spacey span decades and a variety of circumstances, but they do suggest a pattern of behavior," notes a different story for The Atlantic, who points out, again, that just because people don't succeed in getting a criminal conviction — or succeed in winning a civil suit — doesn't mean that a person is any less a predator. How long did Bill Cosby skate away from his various assaults? How long did Harvey Weinstein prey on Hollywood actresses before he was finally faced with a reckoning?
6. Kevin Spacey is planning a comeback.
Because this story isn't gross enough, The New York Post reports that Kevin Spacey is currently planning a comeback. He's been seen recently in Israel with his manager and rumored boyfriend Evan Lowenstein. The outlet also reports that Kevin Spacey is reportedly getting a lot of acting offers, too. Ok, then.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.