Two weeks ago, House of Cards star Kevin Spacey was outed as yet another perpetrator of sexual abuse within Hollywood. At first, he stood accused of committing just one inappropriate act - coming on to an underage Anthony Rapp back in 1986 - to which he responded by offering a rather halfhearted apology on Twitter. "I honestly do not remember the encounter," wrote the 58-year-old actor, before going on to say: "I want to deal with this honestly and openly". [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/KevinSpacey/status/924848412842971136]] However, it quickly transpired that Spacey has not been open or honest about a lot of things, as a second accuser, Tony Montana, came forward within a matter of days. Following that, eight House of Cards employees revealed that they, too, had experienced some form of sexual aggression from Spacey, ranging from "inappropriate contact" to "predatory behavior". A former assistant on the show said: "All the crew members commented on his behavior. What gets me is we have to sign sexual harassment paperwork before the start of the show and apparently [Spacey] doesn't have to do anything and he gets away scott-free with this behavior." Now, after a 15th person has gone public with assault allegations against Spacey, people are offering their thoughts on what this means for his career, and - to a larger extent - Hollywood culture in general. Bryan Cranston, best known for his role as Walter White in Breaking Bad, was particularly direct with his opinion on the American Beauty star. "He's a phenomenal actor, but he's not a very good person," Cranston said in an interview with Newsbeat. "His career now I think is over." He went on to say that: "There's a disorder among all those people who use their power, their place or their status in any industry to overpower someone and force someone to do something that they don't want to do. It's beyond disgusting. It's almost animalistic.

"It's a form of bullying. It's a form of control. It's almost always [done to] young vulnerable men and women who are starting their career."

But Cranston is hopeful that what has happened with Spacey will bring about a more positive change for the future of Hollywood and other power hierarchies.

"That sort of experience goes unchecked until something like this happens," he said.

"The pillars of what were are falling. Everything is being exposed. Women and men should not have to tolerate misbehavior just because of their youth and inexperience.

"The silver lining is we’re not accepting behavior like that just because it’s the way it’s always been."

Spacey has already lost out on a major film role because of the allegations. His part as oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty in the film All the Money in the World is being completely re-shot with Christopher Plummer taking over the role. Netflix have also distanced themselves from the disgraced Hollywood star, abandoning plans to make a documentary with him and cancelling House of Cards. Since Tweeting his original apology back on October 30th, Spacey has offered no further comment on the allegations brought against him, nor has he taken accountability for his actions. It seems likely that Cranston's prediction will turn out to be correct - and so it should. Hollywood abuse has been allowed to go on for too long now, and those who perpetuate it should be brought to justice.

It seems that Hollywood is just coming apart at the seams these days. Coupled with the music industry, each new day brings a new accusation of sexual harassment, assault and abuse. I have a theory that fame and power just turns people into deranged lunatics. People simply cannot handle it - no individual is balanced enough to deal with fame in a 'normal' way. There is no normal way. It leads to an ego inflation that can only be compared to a total derangement of empathy and no understanding of consequences. Harvey Weinstein, of course, may soon be prosecuted for his serial rapes. Kevin Spacey has been ousted from his storied career as a great actor, and is now known for groping young men serially. Ben Affleck had to apologize for groping a co-star from One Tree Hill. Kaya Jones, of the Pussycat Dolls, said that members of the band were ordered to have sex with certain producers. Corey Feldman is on a major campaign to reveal the names of those who sexually abused him as a child. In the vast sea of all this, it's impossible to tell outright what is true and what is false. In the case of people like Harvey Weinstein, and Bill Cosby, the sheer number of accusers and detail of the accounts mean that they very, very likely are the monstrous men we believe them to be. As certain as scientific theories. But every day, new names are added to the roulette wheel of chaos. Now, Mariah Carey may be guilty of sexual harassment. Michael Anello, one of Carey's former security guards, worked for the pop superstar between June 2015 and May 2017. He alleges plenty of abuse, ranging from the sexual to bizarre accusations of him being a "skinhead". Carey would allegedly tease him by calling him a skinhead or a white supremacist, which made him very uncomfortable. She allegedly called him a Nazi and a Ku Klux Klan member, and she has said that she “wanted to be surrounded with black guys, not white people". It's a weird story, and in the area of sexual harassment, Anello describes a trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico, where Carey wore a see-through garment and asked him to come to her room to move luggage. He protested, and she insisted, and finally he left the room with no physical touching. He says that Carey would routinely expose herself to him sexually, and performed "sexual acts with the intent that they be viewed by Anello." The accusations are all written in the draft of a lawsuit being put forth by Anello, also accusing the star of withholding 200,000 dollars worth of pay from him. She also bailed on a long-term contract that lost him even more salary, totaling an additional 511,000 dollars, as reported by The Daily Beast. What do you think of this? Mariah Carey isn't the first person we think of when it comes to sexual harassment, but women are just as capable of being absolutely creepy and crossing the line. It's yet to be seen if the allegations are true, as Carey's camp has not yet responded.

Last year, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, people were shocked to discover that Kevin Spacey had been the subject of numerous sexual assault allegations.

Along with several other prominent Hollywood stars, the House of Cards actor came under fire for alleged historical incidents of abuse and harassment - most notably from Anthony Rapp, who claimed that Spacey made inappropriate advances towards him when he was 14 years old.

At first, Spacey attempted to brush off the allegations, and diverted critics' attention by releasing a statement that focused more on his sexuality than his crime. "I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago," he wrote, before rounding off his defence by saying: "I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I now choose to live as a gay man."

In the following weeks and months, however, more and more accusations snowballed against Spacey, resulting in the actor being dropped from House of Cards and shunned by many of his former colleagues and admirers.

Now, however, one of his Netflix co-stars, Robin Wright, has come forward to say that she thinks the abuser is owed a second chance.

In a recent interview, 52-year-old Wright was asked whether or not she thought Spacey was deserving of a comeback.

"I don’t know how to comment on that, I really don’t," she began. "I believe every human being has the ability to reform … In that sense, second chances, or whatever you are going to call it – absolutely, I believe in that. It’s called growth."

She then went on to say that she felt pity for her former co-star, and, indeed, anyone else who has been in a similar position.

"I feel sorry for anybody whose life is in the public arena. It’s a nightmare, can you imagine? We do a job, we share [a performance] with viewers. Why does our private life have to be public? I hate that part of this industry. It’s so invasive.

"I believe everyone’s personal life should be personal. Positive, negative, neutral, whatever – I don’t believe it should be anybody’s business. But I’m not talking about [the #MeToo] movement – I’m talking about media. The exposure. It’s an awful feeling. A stranger deciding they know who you are … I mean, it’s criminal, it really is."

This comes despite Wright previously claiming that she "didn't know the man".

"We were co-workers really, we didn’t socialize outside of work," she said in July. "We had a respectful, professional relationship. He was so great with me. He was never disrespectful to me. That’s my personal experience. That’s the only thing that I feel I have the right to talk about."

Essentially, then, Wright has contradicted herself in these two statements. Originally, she made a statement suggesting that she was only going to judge Spacey based on what she knew about him; however, in the more recent interview, she has said that people shouldn't know a person's private life through the media (which prompts the obvious question: how would we ever know anything about people we are taught to idolise if not for interviews and insights from people close to them?).

In the case of the #MeToo movement, of course, it is only because of the media, and the engagement of so many others through social media, that we have come to learn the truth about Spacey and so many others like him - and it's a truth that has long been swept under the rug.

Wright may believe that Spacey deserves a second chance, and it certainly sounds as if she feels that he and others in their shared profession have been done a disservice by the media - but is that the case, really? Would we be better off knowing nothing about the people we see on TV and in films every day? Would it be beneficial for us to live in ignorance to their private activities, even if those activities are actually highly illegal and dangerous to others?

Spacey has been ostracised from the film industry because of his inappropriate behaviour, but only in the same way that any other person would lose their job if it transpired they had been sexually abusive towards others. In fact, the lack of any criminal charges shows that - if anything - Spacey has been treated relatively well, in spite of his past actions.

To give Spacey a second chance would be to say that people like him can get away with what they've done, and that's totally against everything the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have worked towards over the past year.

This a**hole just won't quit, will he? I don't know about you, but it would take a pretty fevered, diseased ego to start suing people and claiming that you're cured a few weeks after being exposed for raping and harassing dozens of women over the course of three decades. The lack of self-awareness on this giant melting Jabba of a man is utterly astounding. If his goal is to somehow salvage his legacy, I hope this only makes things worse. I mean honestly, why isn't this dude sitting in a jail cell, waiting for a rape trial? He's privileged and absurdly lucky just to be free right now. So what exactly is Weinstein doing? Well, he plans on suing his old company, The Weinstein Company, for access to company records and documents that would 'exonerate' him. Not sure how an email disproves a violent rape, or the recording of him coercing a woman into his room in brazen manipulation, but alright. Weinstein's lawyer, no doubt being paid very well, said: “Mr. Weinstein believes his email account — which is the primary, if not only, account he used during the term of his employment by the Company — will contain information exonerating him, and therefore the Company, from claims that may be asserted against him or the Company.” It's just pathetic. It's so obvious what he wants - emails of actresses being friendly with him after the assaults to 'prove' that nothing happened. But that's the most cowardly garbage in the world. Obviously they were nice to him - he got away with raping them in the first place because they couldn't afford to strain their relationship with him. Obviously they'd want to pretend everything was cool, or they'd be blacklisted out of Hollywood. He's going to start smearing women and going on a scorched-Earth campaign to defend his indefensible name. Why? Dude, just take your money and go live alone in a jungle compound somewhere, just stay out of everyone's lives. Weinstein's lawyer added that he's seeking the documents to “assist in his defense of civil and criminal allegations arising out of or in connection with his employment at TWC and potentially to aid in investigating claims arising out of the wrongful termination of his employment.” He's being sued for at least 5 million dollars, and more lawsuits are certain to crop up, so he's trying to protect his legacy and his fortune. But when you're a serial rapist, I don't think you deserve to, at all. It is true that an allegation does not equate to guilt. But in Weinstein's case, considering the power he held in Hollywood, the recordings that have been leaked, and the sheer number and detail of accusers, there is no wriggling out of this one. We know the truth, and he can't erase it. Too bad for him, right? So what do you think? Perhaps a relevant detail: Weinstein attended a literal week of sex therapy. That's right, one week, and then he quit. This man is a joke. Tear his name off the company and erase his achievements, burn down the rotten tower.

When this week disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was officially charged with the rape and several counts of sexual assault, many said that it seemed like the #MeToo movement had taken a massive step forwards. Finally, predators were being held accountable for their actions, amid a backdrop of women and men uniting for real change.

But sometimes, it still feels like with every new day comes another of our favourite celebrities being accused of sexual impropriety of some kind or another. Understandably then, many fans were disappointed when news broke on Thursday that The Shawshank Redemption actor Morgan Freeman had been accused of sexual harassment by eight women.

The accusations, initially published by CNN, included testimony from a young production assistant who said that Freeman subjected her to months of unwanted touching and comments about her appearance. She also said the actor: "kept trying to lift up my skirt and asking if I was wearing underwear."

After the revelations, Freeman was quick to a statement apologising any wrongdoing that may have occurred, intentionally or otherwise, saying: "Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I am not someone who would intentionally offend or knowingly make anyone feel uneasy. I apologise to anyone who felt uncomfortable or disrespected - that was never my intent."

However, now tapes have surfaced appearing to show a number of journalists also receiving uncomfortable comments from the star. In one, Freeman is seen hitting on reporter Ashley Crossan, who was interviewing him, initially asking if she is married. When she confirms that she is not he responds by saying: "Fool around with older guys? I’m just asking".

In another Freeman is heard saying to Entertainment Tonight correspondent Janet Mock: "I don’t know how you all manage to do that all the time … You got a dress halfway between your knee and your hips, and you sit down right across from me and cross your legs." Mock later said that she was offended by the comments.

After his initial note apologising for his behaviour, Freeman released a further statement saying that: "I am devastated that 80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined, in the blink of an eye, by Thursday's media reports.

"All victims of assault and harassment deserve to be heard. And we need to listen to them. But it is not right to equate horrific incidents of sexual assault with misplaced compliments or humour."

He also added: "As a part of that, I would often try to joke with and compliment women, in what I thought was a light-hearted and humorous way," going on to state that: "But I also want to be clear: I did not create unsafe work environments. I did not assault women. I did not offer employment or advancement in exchange for sex. Any suggestion that I did so is completely false."

Whether you view these as cheeky throwaway comments or a pattern of inappropriate behaviour is, I guess, down to you. But with more icons than ever being called out on their behaviour towards other, Freeman's story is proof that it's better to be safe than sorry.