Kevin Spacey declares it's 'nice to be back' as he accepts lifetime achievement award
The 'House of Cards' star made a return to the spotlight at the Better World Fund Gala in Cannes to accept a prize honouring "excellence in film and television" marking his first major public appearance since he was cleared of sexual assault charges in London in 2023 - and Spacey used his speech to address his legal issues.
According to Deadline.com, Spacey thanked Better World Fund Gala President and Founder Manuel Collas de La Rochefor inviting him to the event, saying: "I'd like to congratulate Manuel for the decision to invite me here tonight to accept this award,.
"Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every court room he's ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea. But here we are."
He went on to talk about screenwriter Dalton Trumbo - who was blacklisted from Hollywood after being accused of having Communist links - and praised the "bravery" of actor Kirk Douglas for standing up for Trumbo and giving him the chance to pen the screenplay for his Oscar-winning movie 'Spartacus'.
Space added: "Kirk Douglas took the risk, and would later say ... 'It's easier for us actors to play the heroes on screen. We get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice. But in real life, the choices are not always so clear. There are times when one has to stand up for principal'.
"I've learned a lot from history - it often repeats itself. The Blacklist was a terrible time in our history [we must remember] so that it never happens again."
He went on to praise his manager Evan Lowenstein for helping him through the tough times.
Spacey said: "Through Evan, I have learned to seek understanding instead of judgement and with this guidance, I've been able to come out these last few challenging years, not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving in my life."
Spacey's speech came after he walked the red carpet at the event and told reporters: "I feel surrounded by so much affection and love.
"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."
When asked if he is planning a career comeback, Spacey replied: "Well, I'm glad to be working - I'll tell you that!"
Spacey denied all allegations of misconduct against him and he was acquitted of nine sexual assault charges he faced in the UK in 2023. He was also found not liable in a sexual assault lawsuit filed in New York which was dismissed in 2022.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
14 hours ago
- West Australian
International superstar singer Richard Marx to perform at 2025 Logies alongside Guy Sebastian
International superstar singer Richard Marx has been confirmed as one of the musical guests performing at the 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards on Sunday. The Grammy-winning American pop star will appear as a mentor on this year's season of The Voice. He will perform a medley of his greatest hits, alongside homegrown star Guy Sebastian, who will perform his new song, Get It Done. 'Australians have always been huge supporters of my music and have brought their passion and infectious energy to my live shows across the decades,' Marx said in a statement. 'It is a privilege to be performing at Aussie TV's biggest night of celebrations. I can't wait to deliver something special for those at home and in the room.' Joining the pair, and previously announced as a musical guest, is Aussie music icon Jimmy Barnes, who will also perform on the night. They join confirmed presenters, including Kitty Flanagan, Hamish Blake, Sophie Monk, Tom Gleeson, Ricki-Lee, Poh Ling Yeow and Ray Martin, and a host of other big names, who will be on hand to present the awards. The ceremony will once again be hosted by beloved comedian Sam Pang, who has helmed the show twice previously to widespread acclaim. Marx, who has been down under for several months filming The Voice, is a singer-songwriter best known for his musical ballads Right Here Waiting and Hazard — both songs reached number one in Australia. Marx has written fourteen number one hits across multiple genres – pop, rock, country, and R&B – and is one of only two artists (alongside Michael Jackson) to have scored a number one single in four different decades since his musical debut in 1987. The 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards will screen Sunday August 3 from 7pm on Seven and 7Plus.
Perth Now
14 hours ago
- Perth Now
International superstar to perform at this year's Logies
International superstar singer Richard Marx has been confirmed as one of the musical guests performing at the 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards on Sunday. The Grammy-winning American pop star will appear as a mentor on this year's season of The Voice. He will perform a medley of his greatest hits, alongside homegrown star Guy Sebastian, who will perform his new song, Get It Done. 'Australians have always been huge supporters of my music and have brought their passion and infectious energy to my live shows across the decades,' Marx said in a statement. 'It is a privilege to be performing at Aussie TV's biggest night of celebrations. I can't wait to deliver something special for those at home and in the room.' Joining the pair, and previously announced as a musical guest, is Aussie music icon Jimmy Barnes, who will also perform on the night. Guy Sebastian will perform Get It Done at this year's Logies. Credit: Supplied They join confirmed presenters, including Kitty Flanagan, Hamish Blake, Sophie Monk, Tom Gleeson, Ricki-Lee, Poh Ling Yeow and Ray Martin, and a host of other big names, who will be on hand to present the awards. The ceremony will once again be hosted by beloved comedian Sam Pang, who has helmed the show twice previously to widespread acclaim. Sam Pang has been announced as host of The Logies again this year. Credit: James Gourley / Getty Images Marx, who has been down under for several months filming The Voice, is a singer-songwriter best known for his musical ballads Right Here Waiting and Hazard — both songs reached number one in Australia. Marx has written fourteen number one hits across multiple genres – pop, rock, country, and R&B – and is one of only two artists (alongside Michael Jackson) to have scored a number one single in four different decades since his musical debut in 1987. The 65th TV WEEK Logie Awards will screen Sunday August 3 from 7pm on Seven and 7Plus.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Pop culture at breaking point: Is the multibillion-dollar fan machine about to overheat?
In addition, there is no Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead has slowed, at this point, to a cautious gait. Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has a year off. How deeply that absence is felt by the fandom is as simple and complicated a question as, how long is a piece of string? You wouldn't think it's a thing, as this year's Comic-Con is making all the right commercial noises. In real terms, it's about the source of all that noise: the content. Peak TV sold us fewer channels and more streaming platforms – and now there's more content than ever, and we're scrambling to keep up. House of Cards, Stranger Things, Barbie, Strange New Worlds, Andor, Baby Reindeer, The Bear, Adolescence, Euphoria. We loved Sex and the City. We hate And Just Like That. We were tired of DC Studios, but baby we're back with Superman. We were tired of Marvel, but oh, baby we're so back with The Fantastic Four. This appetite has split open the seams of all the silos and social content, TV content and movie content, and an army of YouTubers are now just living in one giant noise machine, in the palm of your hand, and perpetually stuck, it often seems, one iOS update behind everyone else's. But there is an upside. 'Trash has given us an appetite for art,' wrote the legendary American film critic Pauline Kael, whose genius was confirmed when she was the first to acknowledge that The Empire Strikes Back was indeed the best film, cinematically, of the three original Star Wars films. In an essay for Harper's Bazaar, provocatively titled Trash, Art and the Movies, Kael offered this as an explanation for the power of pop culture: 'Good movies make you care, make you believe in possibilities again. If somewhere in the Hollywood-entertainment world someone has managed to break through with something that speaks to you, then it isn't all corruption.' Kael, who died in 2001, did not live through the era of reality TV, of the Kardashians, of the Real Housewives, or a landscape that sometimes places a billion-dollar motion picture and a scrappy YouTube home movie next to each other and, algorithmically speaking, chooses to elevate the latter. But she understood people, and pop culture. And that understanding gave her a rare insight into why we are all, underneath our hesitation, confidence and I'm-asking-for-a-friend dismissiveness, just a bunch of big fat superfans. That's what keeps the TV channels transmitting, and the movie theatres open, and Comic-Con in business. But the problem with our content-powered escape room is that the seams are beginning to split under the strain. In space, you may not be able to hear anyone scream, but sometimes the roar is so loud you can't hear yourself think. To some extent, that explains the rise of digital detoxes, and phrases such as 'conscious unplugging'. That's why some people are drifting into slow living, and shopping for 'dumb phones', which don't have apps, or easy texting capabilities, but rather depend on you dialling a number and having a real conversation. So, what does all of this mean for the world's trillion-dollar fan business? Nobody is going to stop buying Funko Pops tomorrow, and The Big Switch-Off is never going to be a real thing. But it does mean that the system, overheated by both money, marketing and brand exhaustion, can run too hot, and when it needs to, let off steam. But there is also a natural upside. With Superman and The Fantastic Four not stopping at Comic-Con's Hall H on their global whistle-stop PR tours, space has opened up for all manner of things, from the indefatigable enfant terrible of animation, South Park, to the appropriately titled Dexter: Resurrection. And at the weekend, the granddaddy of it all, filmmaker George Lucas, is coming to Comic-Con, not to sell a Star Wars movie, or indeed to sell an action figure, Death Star play set or poster. He's coming to talk about a museum: the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts.
