The clip went viral following the actor’s recent sexual abuse scandal.
Family Guy producers have revealed the origins of that decade-old Kevin Spacey joke that was widely shared in the wake of the actor’s sexual abuse scandal.
Late last year, allegations were made that Spacey made sexual advances towards a 14-year-old, Anthony Rapp, in the 1980s; the actor subsequently released a statement apologising for his actions.
In the wake of the scandal, footage was shared widely on social media of a supposed reference to Spacey’s alleged behaviour in a 2005 episode of MacFarlane’s Family Guy.
In the clip, the character of Stewie is seen running naked across a mall shop floor shouting: “Help! I’ve escaped from Kevin Spacey’s basement! Help me!”
Clip via Turbo
During a Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was asked about that particular scene. At the time, when the script for that episode was written, MacFarlane said that he was unfamiliar with any rumours regarding Spacey’s conduct. He also said that the joke had to be “explained” to him.
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, MacFarlane said: “I don’t remember who pitched the joke. I remember when it was pitched… that was a rumour I had actually not heard and other people in the writers’ room had. And it had to be sort of explained to me: ‘Oh, there’s this rumour that’s going on.”
Executive producer Alec Sulkin adds: “I think that that was something where he was coming off a story where he had been kind of beaten up in a London park, and he claimed that he was walking his dog late at night and fell, and I think that raised a lot of eyebrows. It’s one of the things in terms of standards where if they (Fox) heard the rumours, as we have, then they’ll allow it.”
Rich Appel, another producer on the show, said: “That’s one standard — if there’s some rumour out there that’s been public. The other one is if it seems outrageous and no one could possibly believe it’s true, and some of those have come to pass, too. When they were aired, you thought, ‘Well, this is never going to happen.’”
Since the allegations were made against Spacey, it has been announced that the new season of House of Cards will resume production without the actor.
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