‘Parks and Rec’ Producer Mike Schur Says Kevin Spacey Was ‘The Most Open Secret That’s Ever Existed’

After speaking up about his remorse for having Louis C.K. on “Parks and Recreation” despite having heard the now-confirmed rumors about his sexual harassment, Mike Schur has chimed in on Kevin Spacey as well. “If you think everybody knew about Louis, everybody knew about Kevin Spacey,” he said during a panel with Damon Lindelof at Vulture Festival Los Angeles yesterday.

Schur first became aware of his behavior while he was writing for “Saturday Night Live.” “I remember very distinctly being like, he’s hitting on the pages and he’s hitting on the young men in the talent department,” he said. “You talk about open secret, it’s the most open secret that’s ever existed. I didn’t know maybe the extent to which the behavior was predatory.”

Problems stem from the fact that “we just don’t talk about this stuff,” he continued. “Women and men to whom the behavior is being done, who it’s affecting, are scared, they don’t know who to talk to.

“In certain situations, in certain scenarios, there are very few other women who are even around. Even if they wanted to say something they wouldn’t know where to go,” Schur added.

“In many cases, even when they did say something, nothing happened. The conversation just comes to a halt. It either never happens because the person is too afraid to say anything, or it just reaches a terminus point and it stops because everyone’s attitude is, it would be better if we didn’t talk about this, and that, going forward, is obviously something that has to change.”