Kevin Spacey compared his own career collapse to victims of the Hollywood blacklist of the mid-20th Century on Tuesday as he accepted an award at the Cannes Film Festival, where the Better World Fund Gala honored the two-time Oscar winner the Award for Excellence in Film and Television, according to multiple media reports.
“I’d like to congratulate [Better World Fund founder Manuel Collas de La Roche] for the decision to invite me here tonight to accept this award,” the “House of Cards” actor said, Deadline reported. “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.”
Spacey was accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct in recent years, but was found not liable in a 2022 New York civil lawsuit and acquitted of criminal charges in 2023 in London. He has yet to land a major studio role since, but is working again in independent and international films.
In his remarks, Spacey compared himself to Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted in the 1947-1960 Communist scare.
“It was a long, long time ago, but we have to think about the pushback that [Kirk Douglas] received after he made the brave decision to stand up for fellow colleague, two-time Oscar winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo … He couldn’t find work in Hollywood for 13 years.”
Spacey noted that Douglas stuck his neck out for Trumbo in 1960, despite threats that his career would be ruined.
“[Douglas] said this: ‘It’s easier for us actors to play the heroes on screen,” Spacey continued. “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 so that it never happens again.”
Hundreds of Hollywood professionals had their careers trashed over accusations of Communist leanings – many of them false.
“Today we find ourselves once again at the intersection of uncertainty and fear in the film business and beyond,” Spacey said, according to Deadline, naming Tim Doyle, the “Last Man Standing” producer punished by the WGAW for a lynching image he posted during the 2023 writers’ strike.
“Because the Writers Guild decided to send out a censure of him to all 17,000 guild members, predictably, Tim hasn’t been able to get work since,” Spacey said. “No studio will touch him because of a joke he posted. It took a friend of Tim’s, a comedy writer by the name of Rob Ulin to try to get the Writers Guild to reverse their censure.”
Spacey said history repeats itself – “but only if we allow it to.”
“Two weeks ago, the Writers Guild in a vote with all their members reversed their censure of Tim and at the same time Manuel invited me here to accept this award!”
Asked by a reporter on the red carpet whether this was the beginning of a comeback, Spacey responded: “Well, I’m glad to be working — I’ll tell you that!”
The post Kevin Spacey Compares His Plight to Hollywood Blacklist in Fiery Defense of Cannes Honor: History ‘Often Repeats Itself’ appeared first on TheWrap.