The 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” presented an infamous yet insightful quote: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing th...
The 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” presented an infamous yet insightful quote: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”
Spoiler alert: The line in the movie was spoken by actor Kevin Spacey, who turned out to be the movie’s mysterious main villain in disguise, not the passive observer he pretended to be. Spacey’s life later took a dark turn, when he was faced with multiple accusations of sexual assault.
Now, in a bizarre twist, Spacey is once again being sought to play a potentially diabolical role. Britain’s Prince Andrew is hoping Spacey will be the unusual suspect who will deflect blame in a pending sexual assault lawsuit expected to come to court later this year, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.
The actor — who was famously branded an “alleged sexual predator” by the mother of one of his accusers in 2017 — and the prince both moved in the same elite circles as the late financier Jeffery Epstein. Epstein, who already carried a sex offense conviction from Florida in 2008, was arrested in New York on sex trafficking charges on July 6, 2019. He was found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019.
His companion and partner in crime, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested July 2, 2020, and convicted of five counts of sex trafficking-related charges on December 29, 2021.
Virginia Giuffre says she is another trafficking victim of Epstein and Maxwell. According to Giuffre, the debauched duo gave her to Prince Andrew for sex in 2001, even though she was only 17 at the time. Now Giuffre is suing the prince, alleging he sexually abused her.
Part of Prince Andrew’s problems in the case are photographs. In 2002, pictures were taken of Maxwell and Spacey getting an insider’s tour of Buckingham Palace organized by Andrew, according to the U.K. Sun. These snapshots could prove an intimate connection between Prince Andrew and convicted pimp Maxwell.
Prince Andrew hopes to use Spacey to explain Maxwell’s presence. According to The Sun, the prince will claim he invited Spacey, who brought Maxwell along as his guest.
That could distance Andrew from what could otherwise be damaging guilt by association to the Maxwell conviction.
The Sun quoted an “insider” saying, “The snaps go right to the centre of the claims against Andrew, and an image of Ghislaine Maxwell in the most private space within Buckingham Palace looks very damning.
“But if Kevin can convince a jury he was the crucial link with Ghislaine, rather than Andrew, it distances the prince from her somewhat — and that’s crucial.
“Andrew also believes such a gifted actor and public speaker could be a very compelling asset in front of a jury.”
By any normal standard, Kevin Spacey might be an odd choice to turn to for help for a man accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl.
Among the actor’s accusers are four now-adult men who allege he sexually abused them when they were underage — two were 14, two were 17 at the time of the alleged assaults. If those allegations are true, it would make Spacey not only an accused “predator,” in the words of a victim’s mother, but an accused predator of children, to boot.
But then, very little has been normal about the entire arc of the Epstein case, from career rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous, to his strangely lenient sentence on the 2008 sex conviction, to his death in what has been officially ruled a “suicide” in a federal prison in Manhattan.
And Spacey certainly has a curious hold on the public eye.
In 2018, with his career in ruins due to his scandals, Spacey released a strange, short video called “Let Me Be Frank.”
In the video, Spacey seems to be reprising his role as the corrupt politician Frank Underwood from the series “House of Cards.” He monologues in Underwood’s trademark southern drawl, breaking the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera, and therefore the viewer as well.
In the video, Spacey says, “I showed you exactly what people are capable of. I shocked you with my honesty, but mostly I challenged you and made you think. And you trusted me, even though you knew you shouldn’t.”
Spacey punctuates this with a sip from a cup, and continues: “So we’re not done, no matter what anyone says.”
Eagle-eyed internet observers sought to track down the mug Spacey was drinking from. It appears to be a Queen Elizabeth II commemorative coronation cup, which features the quote: “Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”
In his moment of need, was Spacey sending a subtle signal to powerful friends? The talk of secrets and trust suggests an appeal, or even a threat.
Regardless, it’s hard to see Prince Andrew’s legal gambit as a successful strategy. It’s more like a desperate attempt at misdirection. And Spacey, still trying to give a tentative restart to his career, might be wondering what good there was in it for him, anyway.
Prince Andrew and Kevin Spacey might both need us to keep believing the devil doesn’t exist.
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