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On Monday, October 17, Kevin Spacey took the stand to testify on Anthony Rapp’s civil lawsuit trial and revealed that his father Thomas Fowler was a neo-Nazi and white supremacist.
Trigger Warning: The following article contains topics that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.
The House of Cards star shared that his father’s racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic views prevented him from coming out:
“My father was a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi. I have never talked about these things publicly ever. I grew up in a very complicated family dynamic.”
The actor said that his father used demeaning terms when he spoke about his dream of becoming an actor and told him to not “be an f-word”:
“I won’t say it here because it’s derogatory. I certainly had a degree of shame.”
Thomas Fowler was an American data consultant, technical writer, and an alleged supporter of neo-Nazism.
Kevin Spacey's comments about his father came after Anthony Rapp filed a $40 million lawsuit against the former, accusing the actor of making inappropriate advances towards him in 1986 when he was just 14.
While Spacey had previously apologized on social media for his “deeply inappropriate drunken behavior” from 30 years ago, he denied the assault allegations in the ongoing lawsuit.
Kevin Spacey’s father Thomas Fowler was previously accused of abuse by the actor's older brother
Thomas Geoffrey Fowler was an American data consultant and technical writer. He made headlines for his alleged neo-Nazi ideology and abusive behavior towards his children.
Fowler was born on June 4, 1924, in Colorado. He was married to Kathleen Ann Knutson and the couple shared three children, including Spacey. In a 2004 interview, Spacey’s elder brother Randall accused their father of abuse.
In the interview, Randall claimed that Thomas Fowler brutalized his three children for several years. He said that the Fowler siblings grew up in a “house of horrors” and often referred to their father as “The Creature.”
He also referred to Spacey as an “empty vessel” at the time and said that the actor and his siblings never had the chance to grow up normally:
“Neither of us had a chance growing up with two such damaged parents. I went through three marriages and 40 affairs.”
Randall also said that he faced most of the abuse at the hands of Fowler while his sister Julie endured beatings until she ran away at the age of 18. He also said that Kevin Spacey tried his best to avoid the abuse and ultimately ended up having “no feelings”:
“He was so determined to try to avoid the whippings that he just minded his Ps and Qs until there was nothing inside. He had no feelings.”
Reports suggest that Thomas Fowler joined the American Nazi Party when his children were young. Randall reportedly remembered his father trimming his mustache to resemble Adolf Hilter’s appearance. The former died in 1992 at the age of 68 in Atlanta.
A look into Kevin Spacey's revelations about his father
Kevin Spacey opened up about suffering abuse at the hands of his father while testifying in Anthony Rapp's civil lawsuit trial against the former.
In addition to calling his father a neo-Nazi and white-supremacist, the actor also mentioned that his family often moved from one place to the other as his father was mostly unemployed.
He revealed that his father “forced” him and his siblings to listen to “hours and hours of racist and bigoted lectures,” which left him “terrified” as a child and prevented him from bringing his friends to the house.
“[It was] humiliating and terrifying when friends came over to the houses. Everything about what was happening in that house was something I had to keep to myself. We never, ever talked about it. I have never talked about these things publicly ever.”
Spacey also addressed Rapp’s claims about him “living a lie” for not coming out earlier in life. He denied the accusation and said he never intended to lie but was hesitant to talk about his personal life:
“To call someone a fraud is to say someone is living a lie. I wasn’t living a lie. I was just reluctant to talk about my personal life.”
During his testimony, the Oscar-winner also shared that he decided to become a performer because he loved making his mother laugh. He said that his mother helped develop his love for movies.
Kevin Spacey's legal team earned a victory in his ongoing trial as Judge Lewis A. Kaplan dismissed emotional distress charges against the actor. He is currently facing battery charges in relation to Rapp's allegations.
