All those allegations of sexual assault haven’t held Kevin Spacey back in resurfacing as an actor.
In fact, he accepted an award this week in Cannes, France.
Spacey, who was born in South Orange, received an award Tuesday for excellence in film and television at the Better World Fund Gala.
The event, though not affiliated with the Cannes Film Festival, is held during the festival, which runs from May 13 to May 24.
“I mean, who would’ve ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every single courtroom he’s ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea?” Spacey said during his acceptance speech (see video below).
The actor heaped praise upon his best friend and manager Evan Lowenstein (of Evan and Jaron fame), who produced his upcoming film.
“With his guidance I’ve been able to come out the other side of these last few challenging years not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving than I ever have been in my life,” Spacey said.
He closed by pumping his fist and forcefully quoting the 1983 song from Elton John:
Earlier in the night, Spacey addressed media on the red carpet, per Deadline.
“I feel surrounded by so much affection and love,” he said. “I’ve heard from so many of my friends, and colleagues and co-stars in the last week since this award was announced. I feel surrounded by support and it’s very nice to be back.”
Spacey, 65, a two-time Oscar winner (“The Usual Suspects,” “American Beauty”), was accused of sexual assault and harassment by a series of men starting in 2017. The claims arrived in the wake of the surge in the #MeToo movement prompted by the allegations against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
"I feel surrounded by support and it’s very nice to be back," Spacey said in Cannes. Pascal Le Segretain | Getty Images
Spacey was fired from the Netflix series “House of Cards” because of allegations from cast and crew members and was ordered to pay nearly $31 million to the production company for breach of contract. He was also accused by a series of men of groping and other harassment during his time as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London.
The actor was cut from the 2017 Ridley Scott movie “All the Money in the World” after filming all of his scenes as J. Paul Getty. The scenes were reshot with Christopher Plummer.
In 2023, Spacey was acquitted after being charged with four counts of sexual assault in the UK.
Before that, Spacey was accused of groping an 18-year-old man at a Nantucket bar in 2016. He pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of indecent assault and battery and prosecutors later dropped the charge.
Spacey’s career took a nosedive in the wake of these and other allegations, but less than four years after actor Anthony Rapp became the first one to go public with claims against Spacey, he was working again.
In 2021, he got a small part in “L’uomo Che Disegnò Dio” — “The Man Who Drew God” — a movie from Italian actor-director Franco Nero.
Rapp (”Star Trek: Discovery,“ “Rent”) had alleged in 2017 that in the 1980s, Spacey, then 26, made sexual advances toward Rapp when he was 14.
In a tweet responding to the claim, Spacey apologized and said he did not remember the alleged incident, blaming it on drunken behavior. At the same time, he came out as gay.
Video contains profanity
In 2020, Rapp and an anonymous man filed a lawsuit against Spacey in New York. The other man alleged that when he was a 14-year-old acting student and Spacey was his teacher, the actor invited him to his apartment and “engaged in sexual acts” with him more than once. Spacey, he alleged, assaulted him after he told him “no” in their final encounter.
A judge ruled the anonymous accuser had to reveal his identity in order to proceed with the lawsuit. He declined to do so. Later, in 2022, a jury found that Spacey did not molest Rapp.
Another anonymous man, a massage therapist, accused Spacey of groping him during a treatment session. He sued the actor, but the suit was dropped when the plaintiff died in 2019.
Stories by Amy Kuperinsky
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.