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Judi Dench defends ‘good friend’ Kevin Spacey as she slams decision to cut him from film after sexual assault claims

'Good friends': Dame Judi Dench has defended Kevin Spacey: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images
'Good friends': Dame Judi Dench has defended Kevin Spacey: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

Judi Dench has spoken out in defence of “good friend” Kevin Spacey following numerous sexual assault allegations against the actor.

The British actress, 83, slammed Ridley Scott’s decision to cut Spacey from last year’s film All The Money in the World following the claims, dubbing him a “wonderful actor”.

According to Variety, Dench said that Spacey had been a big support to her following the death of her husband Michael Williams in 2001 while addressing journalists at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

“I went to do The Shipping News with Kevin Spacey, and Kevin was an inestimable comfort and never mentioned he knew I was in a bad way. He cheered me up and kept me going,” she said.

Speaking about Scott’s decision to drop Spacey’s scenes and replace him with Christopher Plummer, she said: “I can’t approve, in any way, of the fact that — whatever he has done — that you then start to cut him out of the films.

“Are we to do what happened when he was replaced with Christopher Plummer? Are we to do that throughout history?”

She added: “Are we to go back throughout history and anyone who has misbehaved in any way, or who has broken the law, or who has committed some kind of offence, are they always going to be cut out? Are we going to extrude them from our history?

“I don’t know about the conditions of it, but nevertheless he is, and was, a most wonderful actor… And a good friend. I can’t imagine what he’s doing now.”

Accusations against Spacey began last year when actor Anthony Rapp alleged he had made a sexual advance to him in 1986 when Rapp was 14.

Last year, Spacey was fired from Netflix hit House of Cards after further allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.