Denzel Washington says rumors about an Oscar-winning actor have been around for decades

Kevin Spacey has had his fair share of ugly headlines in recent years, but Denzel Washington recently said that rumors about him had been floating around long before those reports surfaced.

Washington said there had been decades of talk before the 65-year-old “House of Cards” actor was accused of sexual assault and harassment.

Washington made the revelation in a five-part first-person essay written in the November 19 issue of Esquire.

Washington recalled attending the 2000 Academy Awards for his Best Actor nomination for his performance in “The Hurricane.” While there, he recalled how Spacey won the award instead.

“I’m sure I went home that night and drank. I had to,” said Washington, who also opened up in the piece about his decision to quit drinking and live a sober lifestyle over the past decade. “I don’t want to sound like, ‘Oh, he won my Oscar, or something like that. It wasn’t like that.’

“And you know, there was talk around town about what was going on over there on that side of the street, and that’s between him and God,” Washington added. ‘I have nothing to do with that. I pray for him. That is between him and his maker.”

Spacey won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in 1999’s “American Beauty,” after winning Best Supporting Actor for the 1996 film “The Usual Suspects.” Seventeen years later, controversy struck and severely impacted the actor’s career when Anthony Rapp became the first person to come out and publicly accuse him of sexual assault, and more accusers came forward.

In 2022, a jury in New York found Spacey not liable for damages related to Rapp’s allegations, and the following year a British court found him not guilty of nine charges of alleged sexual abuse.

Accusations against Spacey continue to mount, as do documentaries such as Investigation Discovery’s “Spacey Unmasked,” released in May.

Spacey has denied all claims and faced a barrage of criticism after coming out as gay in response to Rapp’s initial accusations in 2017.