Family Guy Takes Aim at Media Coverage of Kevin Spacey

Family Guy has taken aim at Kevin Spacey in the past. But now the satirical Fox cartoon has set its sights on how the media has covered him.

In Sunday's episode, the character Peter Griffin and his family are watching the conclusion of The Usual Suspects. Spoiler: The 1995 film directed by Bryan Singer concludes with the startling revelation that Kevin Spacey's character is in fact Keyser Soze, a crime lord whose identity is a mystery throughout the production. The role would garner Spacey an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

However, the surprise twist that Spacey is the villain produced a different reaction from Griffin.

"Wait, he was gay the whole time?" said the animated character, who is voiced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

The joke seems to be a cutting rebuke to the media, in the wake of accusations of sexual assault against Spacey. When Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp came forward to BuzzFeedin October with an allegation that Spacey tried to "seduce" him over three decades ago when Rapp was only 14, the older actor responded by coming out as gay.

Initially, news of this revelation dominated headlines. This prompted an outcry many major LGBT figures, including Zachary Quinto and GLAAD, who accused Spacey of attempting to use his sexual orientation to divert the media narrative away from his alleged misconduct.

Thus, Griffin's reaction is meant to mirror that of a media outlet that, when faced with the dual revelations of a person's alleged abuse and his sexual orientation, zooms in on the latter.

This is not the first time Family Guy has used humor to target Spacey and the "open secret" of his misconduct. In a 2005 episode, a naked Stewie, who is a baby, ran through a mall screaming, "Help! I've escaped from Kevin Spacey's basement!"

The Hulu show Difficult People also repeatedly used dark humor to tackle Spacey. In one episode, the character played by out comedian Billy Eichner criticized someone because "his hand shot up faster than Kevin Spacey's fly at the opening of Newsies." A YouTube splice of every Spacey joke on Difficult People has a run time of over two minutes.