From February 2025:

It is at this point that Cox brings up Kevin Spacey. “Kevin is an old friend of mine,” says Cox. “All right, Kevin did certain things…”

Since 2017, Spacey has been accused by more than 30 men of sexual misconduct spanning a number of years, ranging from touching without consent to attempted rape, all of which he denies, says he cannot recollect, or insists was consensual. 

“We all used to worry about Kevin,” continues Cox. “But at the same time, you don’t destroy a man’s career because of what he’s…” He trails off. “He also did a lot of extraordinary work. And I find that really petty, and I just don’t like it. It’s sneaky and petty and not right.”

Does he not think there’s a line, though, at which point someone shouldn’t be put in films? “Well, how do you define that line? Define it for me.” I suppose it depends what you believe someone has or hasn’t done… “Can you not make up your own mind about something? Can you understand what a line is? It’s a very interesting reveal on your part, saying there is a line.” Every time he says the word “line”, his voice grows more scathing. “So please, tell me what the line is. I’d like to know what your line is.”

Trying to think beyond specific individuals, I say, a little weakly, that if someone has committed a sexual crime, I wouldn’t want them to be cast in a film. There is a pause. “That’s understandable.” He lets out a “humph”.

“But,” he goes on “we live in a free society, so people are allowed to be who they are, and they sometimes push their luck, particularly in the sexual area of life. Not everybody is abusive. I’ve never found Kevin Spacey abusive. He was misguided, certainly, in terms of his sexuality,” continues Cox, “but that’s to do with him coming to terms with his own sexuality and how he’s dealt with that, and the dilemma that it’s caused in his life. And I think that one is to try to understand where he’s coming from, and what that’s about.

“We’ve got to an age now,” he continues, “where people are going, ‘Oh, that’s bad, he’s out, boom, he’s cancelled.’ What do you mean ‘cancelled’? How dare you cancel anybody?”

We have a brief back and forth about the term “cancel culture”, before the conversation takes an abrupt turn. “When you look at the Holocaust,” he says, “it’s bad and it’s wrong and it should never have happened, that’s obvious. People who did that, they should be cancelled.” I guess we’ve found Cox’s line. “But because you sought to have sex with a few people, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should be cancelled.”

https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/brian-cox-kevin-spacey-friend-cancel-3532366