Spacey stars in upcoming film "Billionaire Boys Club," based on the true story of an '80s Ponzi scheme. Vertical Entertainment, the distributor of the film, said that despite accusations of sexual harassment and assault against Spacey, they plan to move forward with the project. "We hope these distressing allegations pertaining to one person's behavior — that were not publicly known when the film was made almost two-and-a-half years ago and from someone who has a small, supporting role in 'Billionaire Boys Club' — does not tarnish the release of the film," Vertical Entertainment said in a statement to CNN."We don't condone sexual harassment on any level and we fully support victims of it. At the same time, this is neither an easy nor insensitive decision to release this film in theaters, but we believe in giving the cast, as well as hundreds of crew members who worked hard on the film, the chance to see their final product reach audiences," the company added. "In the end, we hope audiences make up their own minds as to the reprehensible allegations of one person's past, but not at the expense of the entire cast and crew present on this film." The decision to keep Spacey in this film comes more than seven months after he was replaced by Christopher Plummer in Sony's "All The Money in the World." The studio chose to reshoot Spacey's scenes just weeks before the film's December theatrical release. Spacey was first accused of sexual assault by actor Anthony Rapp, who told BuzzFeed in October about an alleged encounter with Spacey at a party in 1986, during which Spacey made a sexual advance toward the then 14-year-old Rapp.Spacey then issued a statement claiming he did not recall the incident, but apologized for what he said would have been "inappropriate drunken behavior." Days after the initial accusation by Rapp, CNN published an investigation in which "House of Cards" production staff accused Spacey of sexual harassment and one incident of sexual assault. The next day, Netflix announced they would not continue the series if Spacey was part of it. Related: 'House of Cards' employees allege sexual harassment, assault by Kevin SpaceyA publicist who has since parted ways with the actor said at the time that Spacey was seeking unspecified treatment. Spacey has not commented on the allegations beyond his initial apology to Rapp. The sixth and final season of "House of Cards" resumed production without Spacey and debuts this fall. "Billionaire Boys Club" stars Emma Roberts, Jeremy Irvine, Judd Nelson, Cary Elwes and Billie Lourd. The film is set for a limited release on August 17.
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