Fabián Basabe references Kevin Spacey verdict to allude to his own legal plight

Embattled Rep. Fabián Basabe appears to be comparing yearslong and recently rejected accusations of sexual assault against actor Kevin Spacey to claims the Republican lawmaker himself now faces.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Basabe noted the “not guilty” verdict jurors in London reached last week in a sexual assault case four men brought against Spacey. He also mentioned an October decision in which a federal jury in Manhattan found Spacey not liable for sexual battery he was accused of committing in the mid-1980s.

“Still, despite not guilty verdicts on two sides of the Atlantic, it appears unlikely that Hollywood will ever hire Spacey again and that his once illustrious career will never return, because Kevin Spacey was judged to be guilty before entering the courtroom,” Basabe wrote.

“The man was tarred and feathered by cancel culture and misplaced hate before a jury ever heard evidence. He was crucified prior to deliberation. And to add insult to injury, not a single liberal actor, director, producer, nor journalist are up in arms about this!”

Basabe then added, in an allusion to a sexual battery and defamation lawsuit two former employees filed against him last month, “IMAGINE WHAT THEY CAN DO TO PEOPLE IN POLITICS! Shame, shame, shame.”

WHAT GOES ON TODAY
..Last week, Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of all sexual assault charges by a jury at Southwark Crown Court in London. In a civil trial in New York last year, with Jurors also returning a Not Guilty verdict at lightning speed, Spacey was exonerated of… pic.twitter.com/vdczG3M6Hd

— Fabián Basabe (@FabianBasabeFL) August 7, 2023

A freshman lawmaker, Basabe has attracted no shortage of negative attention since winning the seat representing House District 106 by 240 votes last year.

Part of it comes from outrage some residents have shown over his support of several controversial new laws, including heightened restrictions on LGBTQ-inclusive public school instruction, a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, the removal of permitting requirements for the concealed carrying of a firearm and a crackdown on exposing minors to “lewd” live shows like drag and burlesque performances, among other measures.

But he’s also faced accusations of physical misconduct, including claims by a 25-year-old former aide named Nicolas Frevola that Basabe slapped him in the face during a January party in Tallahassee.

An outside law firm investigating the matter for the House determined in late June that there was “inconclusive” evidence to confirm the incident occurred as Frevola claimed.

About a week later, however, Frevola, his mother, and a 24-year-old former intern of Basabe’s named Jacob Cutbirth filed a lawsuit against Basabe for battery and defamation for what they described as a pattern of sexual harassment and unwanted touching.

Robert Fernandez, an attorney representing Basabe, called the suit “frivolous and meritless.”

Basabe’s Monday post on X suggests he has concerns about whether he’s headed for political blacklisting similar to the ostracization Spacey has seen since actor Anthony Rapp accused the Oscar winner of making sexually inappropriate advances on him when he was just 14 years old.

Prior to the accusation, which inspired others to make similar allegations, Spacey appeared in multiple yearly projects as a lead performer. After, he was fired from high-profile projects, removed from others, stripped of awards and other honors, and has appeared in just four productions, two of which are short videos he wrote and produced himself.

Basabe, 45, expressed contempt for Spacey’s prior peers in Hollywood and members of the media who “haven’t written about (Spacey’s) innocence in the press or any social platform, especially not the way the attacks were written.”

He added, “They were happy to destroy a man; but have no interest in properly representing his innocence.”

Myriad mainstream outlets, including The New York Times, ABC News, Forbes, Deadline, Entertainment Weekly, New York Post, Yahoo, Page Six and the Daily Mail, among others, reported on the Spacey verdict last month.

Running a mostly self-funded campaign, Basabe narrowly outpaced former Bay Harbor Islands Mayor Jordan Leonard last year to succeed outgoing Democratic Rep. Joe Geller. The wealthy socialite and former reality TV star won despite resurfaced reports of alleged racist remarks Basabe made during Miami’s annual Art Basel event and an altercation with a neighbor that led to his capture by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Fugitive Task Force in 2020.

Basabe is running for re-election in House District 106, which includes all or part of the municipalities of Aventura, Bay Harbor Islands, Miami Beach, North Bay Village, North Miami Beach and Sunny Isles.

So far, one person has filed to run against him next year: Joe Saunders, a former Democratic lawmaker who works as the political director of LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida.