Topline
Kevin Spacey will accept his second lifetime achievement award in Italy later this month, the country where he attempted a film comeback in 2022, multiple news outlets reported after his acting career was derailed by numerous sexual misconduct allegations and trials—though he’s been found not guilty at trial and has denied wrongdoing while admitting he “pushed boundaries.”
Key Facts
Spacey will receive the Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement in Taormina, an award backed by the Italian Senate and the state of Sicily, several outlets reported.
Award organizers Michel Curatolo and Marco Fallanca reportedly called Spacey a “timeless monument in film and theater history, who unquestionably deserves the chance to get his career back.”
Spacey will accept the award on July 21, where he will give a short performance in Taormina’s 4,000-capacity Greek Theater.
Key Background
Spacey, whose acting career floundered in the United States after several men accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017, has made numerous attempts to revive his career abroad—particularly in Italy, where he made his first film following the allegations, Franco Nero’s “The Man Who Drew God,” which premiered in 2022. Spacey also received another lifetime achievement award in Italy last year, bestowed by the Italian National Museum of Cinema. Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary to the Italian Ministry of Culture, said at the time that “we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback.” Spacey thanked the organization for having “the courage, the balls, to invite me” while accepting the award. As part of the award ceremony, Spacey gave a question-and-answer style class and hosted a screening of his Oscar-winning film, “American Beauty.” Spacey will portray a character named “The Devil” in another upcoming Italian film, “The Contact.”
Surprising Fact
Both lifetime achievement awards Spacey has received in Italy were co-organized by the same person, artist consultant Marco Fallanca.
What Has Spacey Been Accused Of?
Spacey, a two-time Oscar winner and Tony winner with a decades-long acting career, was accused of sexual misconduct by 15 men in 2017. Actor Anthony Rapp was the first to allege that Spacey had made an unwanted sexual advance toward him, which Rapp says happened in 1986 when he was 14 and Spacey was 26. Hours later, Spacey said he did not remember the encounter but offered his “sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” He also came out as gay in his statement, a decision criticized by other LGBTQ actors and advocates, which Spacey later said he regretted, stating he was “accused of changing the subject or trying to deflect or conflating the allegation with being gay.” Spacey was fired from his role on the hit Netflix series, “House of Cards,” and was replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott’s film “All the Money in the World.” Rapp sued Spacey in September 2020, seeking $40 million in damages, though a jury sided with Spacey two years later, finding he did not abuse Rapp. Spacey was charged with indecent assault and battery in Massachusetts in 2018, based on an alleged incident in which Spacey was accused of groping an 18-year-old man, though prosecutors dropped the case in 2019 because of the “unavailability of the complaining witness” after the witness invoked the Fifth Amendment and stopped testifying. A London jury found Spacey not guilty of seven counts of sexual assault and two other counts of sexual offenses in 2023, one year after the Crown Prosecution Service charged him based on incidents it alleged took place in the United Kingdom between 2005 and 2013.
Tangent
Spacey has also made recent attempts to return to the spotlight in the United States and the United Kingdom, where he faced sexual misconduct trials. Spacey spoke to NewsNation host Chris Cuomo in May, stating he is “ready to move forward” and “prove that I’m a man of great character,” while also saying he is “not going to be accountable for things I didn’t do or that were exaggerated or greatly changed.” Spacey broke down in an interview with Piers Morgan in June, claiming he lost his home in Baltimore and was nearly bankrupt following mounting legal fees he racked up and his lack of work amid the allegations. He admitted to Morgan he had “pushed the boundaries” by “being too handsy” with people, but said he “didn’t know at the time” they were unwanted advances. Spacey gave both the Cuomo and Morgan interviews after a documentary, “Spacey Unmasked,” premiered in the United Kingdom in May, which contained new interviews with 10 subjects about Spacey’s conduct, nine of whom spoke about their experiences with the actor for the first time. Spacey slammed the documentary as a “desperate attempt for ratings.”
What To Watch For
Spacey will likely stand trial in the United Kingdom again next year following a civil claim from a man granted anonymity by the court. The man alleged Spacey sexually assaulted him in 2008, causing him to suffer “psychiatric damage and other financial loss.” Spacey’s representatives said he looks forward to the “opportunity now to defend these allegations.”
Further Reading
Kevin Spacey to Receive Italian Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement (The Hollywood Reporter)
Kevin Spacey Breaks Down To Piers Morgan: Admits He Was ‘Too Handsy,’ Says He’s Broke And Losing Home (Forbes)
