These past few weeks have been filled with the exposing of many different influencers in Hollywood. It seems as if everyday there is a new person coming forward on behalf of their sexual assault experience. Hollywood is getting rid of one assailant at a time.

    Recently, House of Cards actor Kevin Spacey has been under fire. He was accused by Star Trek: Discovery actor; Anthony Rapp, who stated in a BuzzFeed interview on October 29, 2017, that when he was 14 years old, Spacey made sexual advances on him. In a statement regarding the accusation, Spacey apologized while insisting he did not remember the incident. Spacey, in bad timing, also came out as gay in the same statement.

    People are finally coming forward about sexual assault. Coming forward about a thing as heinous as that is a difficult thing to do, which is why victims often keep it to themselves. Now with these recent allegations, via social media, on a plethora of stars, Hollywood will rid itself of the trash.

    “It is not particularly a ‘new trend,” but due to social media influence, more voices are being heard.” Junior Alyssa Saucier stated. “We are now able to see the multitudes of people affected by people like Spacey or other powerful people in Hollywood.”

    Now that this allegation has come out, many other men have come forward about Spacey’s sexual misconduct. A composed list of at least 15 other men has surfaced, including; Mexican actor Robert Cavazos,  and Harry Dreyfus, the son of award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss. Not to mention the others that includes a handful of anonymous accusers.

    Many people in the industry are hushed about their experiences, and now that more and more are coming out  about it, it gives others a voice and the courage to come out and confront these awful people in Hollywood.

    Netflix has decided to suspend the filming of House of Cards, a Netflix original with Spacey as the lead star. This is a controversial call that has people upset because what about season seven?

    However, amid this maelstrom, the thing to remember is separating the artist and their art is not only still paying them, but also enabling them.

    “Personally, I agree with Netflix’s decision to remove Spacey from the show, but they should not have cancelled the show in general,” Saucier said. “The best thing Netflix can do is outright say what he did was wrong and continue the show. They’re letting Spacey’s sexual assault control their decisions now.”
    With the ever growing amount of sexual assault victims coming out about their encounters with powerful people in Hollywood, this could open the door for other victims, such as your average person to come forward and not hide behind silence and fear. At the end of the day, the people will be fine without the last season of House of Cards and Kevin Spacey is and will always be a sexual predator.