The director said: “You can’t condone that kind of behaviour in any shape or form,” adding that keeping Spacey in the picture would have spelled disaster for the film.
“We cannot let one person’s action affect the good work of all these other people. It’s that simple,” he said.
Spacey has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by a number of men and, according to his spokesperson, is “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment”.
The decision to replace him was taken swiftly by the 79-year-old British film director.
The first claims of misconduct against Spacey were made at the end of October. By 9 November, Scott announced he would reshoot all of the actor’s scenes with Christopher Plummer – and still make the 22 December release date.
Scott said he had been happy with Spacey’s performance, describing him as a “very talented man and I got on very well with him”. He added he had “no idea” about any claims of sexual misconduct.
Spacey played oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty in All the Money in the World.
The film tells the story of the kidnapping of Getty’s grandson and the attempts by the boy’s mother (played by Michelle Williams) and a former CIA operative (Mark Wahlberg) to raise the ransom.
Williams and Wahlberg agreed to return to set, including on location in the UK, to reshoot scenes – despite it clashing with the US Thanksgiving holiday.
The director began re-shooting Spacey’s scenes with Plummer on 20 November and said he had already finished filming.
“I’ve done it… We’re not dealing with celluloid any more – it’s all digital, and I send [the footage each day] to [editor Claire Simpson] and she cuts it, and I can go in and look after shooting,” he said.
“Everything I’ve shot is already in [the final cut] up through yesterday morning.”
Scott admitted the film studio had its doubts that he would manage it, saying: “They were like, ‘You’ll never do it. God be with you.'”
Scott added: “There’s no time for pondering. Sometimes you’ve got to lay down the law. You have to!”
Michelle Williams told Entertainment Weekly she was stunned by news of the allegations against Spacey, but “immediately started to feel better” upon learning about the decision to replace him in the film.
“This doesn’t do anything to ease the suffering of people who were all too personally affected by Kevin Spacey, but it is our little act of trying to right a wrong,” she said.
“And it sends a message to predators – you can’t get away with this any more. Something will be done.”
