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Crime

Norway ex-royal says Spacey groped him

December 8, 2017

The former husband of Princess Martha Louise told a radio station that Spacey grabbed him at a Nobel Peace Prize concert. On the same day, new allegations surfaced about actor Dustin Hoffman.

Schweden Ari Behn
Image: Getty Images/I. Gavan

New allegations surfaced about disgraced Hollywood icon Kevin Spacey on Friday after the former son-in-law of Norway's King Harald accused the actor of groping him in 2007.

Ari Behn, an author who was married to Norway's Princess Martha Louise for 14 years, said he met Spacey when the two were seated next to each other at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo.

Behn told Norwegian radio that Spacey suddenly said "hey, let's go have a cigarette," before he groped Behn's genitals.

Spacey has mostly remained silent as the allegations have piled up against him in recent weeks after actor Anthony Rapp accused the Usual Suspects star of assaulting him at a Broadway party in 1986 when Rapp was only 14.

Shortly thereafter, Netflix announced that it was shooting the last season of its hit show House of Cards without its star, and director Ridley Scott announced that he was reshooting scenes of his forthcoming film All the Money in the World to have Christopher Plummer replace Spacey.

Further allegations against Dustin Hoffman

Also on Friday, a second claim surfaced against actor Dustin Hoffman, who a few weeks ago was accused of having sexually harassed a woman working with him on a production of Death of a Salesman in 1985 when she was 17 and Hoffman was 47.

Now, Death of a Salesman co-star Kathryn Rossetter said the Oscar-winning actor would grope her almost nightly, demand foot rubs and once pulled her slip over her head to expose her breasts to the crew.

This is not the first time Hoffman has been accused of harassment. Legendary actress Meryl Streep said as far back as 1979 that Hoffman had groped her breast the first time they met — she was auditioning for a play he was directing. Streep later said Hoffman apologized to her for the incident.

The allegations against Hoffman led to a tense exchange with TV host and comedian John Oliver earlier in the week, when the latter was hosting a film panel discussing Hoffman's 1997 film Wag the Dog.

Oliver said he would like to "go around the room" and discuss the current climate in the entertainment industry after the recent spate of sexual harassment allegations. Oliver and Hoffman entered into a battle of words after Oliver brought up the claims against the actor.

Hoffman insisted Oliver was not being "open-minded" and was putting him on display. Hoffman also said the accusations did not reflect who he was.

"It's that part of the response to this stuff that pisses me off," Oliver responded. "It is reflective of who you were. You've given no evidence to show that it didn't happen. There was a period of time when you were a creeper around women."

Hoffman then asked Oliver if he believed everything he read, to which the TV host answered yes because "there's no point in [the accuser] lying."

Elizabeth Schumacher Elizabeth Schumacher reports on gender equity, immigration, poverty and education in Germany.
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