It’s completely understandable that Robin Wright would be asked about her former “House of Cards” co-star, Kevin Spacey. But her interview on NBC’s “Today Show” earlier this week smacked a wee bit of asking a woman to answer for the misconduct of a man.
Spacey was jettisoned from the Netflix series — which returns for its sixth and final season later this year — after “Star Trek: Discovery” star Anthony Rapp came forward with an allegation that Spacey made a sexual advance to him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Multiple other allegations followed, including several from members of the “House of Cards” production team.
Whether she intended it or not, host Savannah Guthrie seemed to be asking Wright how she could possibly have been in the dark about all of this.
“Was there anything in all these years of working with him that would have made you think something like this was possible?” she asked, later repeating, “Was there any kind of red flag or anything that would have made you think this was possible?”
Again, not an entirely unreasonable question. Once. But the implication seemed to be that Wright should have known. Perhaps that she should have done something about Spacey’s alleged behavior.
It’s not entirely reasonable to expect anyone to know the secrets their co-workers are hiding. Wright made it clear she and Spacey were co-workers who had a “respectful, professional relationship” and “never socialized outside of work.”
(Associated Press file photo | Craig Ruttle) Co-anchor Hoda Kotb, left, reaches out to Savannah Guthrie on the set of the "Today" show Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2017, in New York, after NBC News fired host Matt Lauer for "inappropriate sexual behavior."
The astonishing irony is that Wright was asked these questions by a woman who worked alongside Matt Lauer for more than five years before he was forced out because of sexual misconduct allegations.
And the tone of Guthrie’s interview was what we might have expected before #MeToo. “You’ve been in this business a long time,” Guthrie said. “Have you experienced harassment?”
“Of course,” Wright said. “Who hasn’t?”
“Right,” agreed Guthrie, who ought to keep that in mind in future interviews.
(File photo by Richard Shotwell, Invision via Associated Press) Nev Schulman, executive producer of the MTV series "Catfish: The TV Show," arrives at the third annual Beyond Hunger "A Place at the Table" gala in Beverly Hills, Calif. MTV temporarily suspended shooting the show while it investigated sexual misconduct accusations made by a woman who appeared on air three years ago. Schulman denied the allegations, which MTV ultimately concluded were not credible.
After facing his own #MeToo spotlight, “Catfish” host and executive producer Nev Schulman spoke out about how he felt “powerless” when accused of sexual misconduct by a woman who appeared on the show. He denied the charges and pointed out that others were present when the incidents allegedly took place; MTV investigated and found the woman’s claims “not credible and without merit.”
Production resumed on “Catfish,” which returned to the schedule on Wednesday.
“To be accused of something that I squarely did not do and to have the harsh judgment that followed and no way to counteract or do something in the moment to correct that was very difficult,” Schulman told People magazine.
When you Google Schulman, this debunked story comes up. It will never go away.
But, while he denied the charges, Schulman didn’t criticize the the #MeToo movement. That speaks well of his character.
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