Kevin Spacey says he feels more welcomed in Hollywood again
Kevin Spacey told Bill Maher on the Club Random podcast that he feels "much more welcomed" in Hollywood nearly nine years after sexual misconduct allegations derailed his career in 2017. The two-time Oscar winner cited jury wins in U.S. and U.K. courts and said he feels less trapped in "show business jail" as he pursues a comeback.
Key Takeaways
- Spacey, 66, said on Monday's Club Random episode that Hollywood is "moving in the direction" his team hoped for after years in professional exile.
- He pointed to not-guilty verdicts in a 2023 London criminal trial and a 2022 U.S. civil case brought by Anthony Rapp, plus a March settlement with three other accusers.
- Maher challenged the volume of allegations; Spacey admitted he "hit on a lot of guys" but compared the scandal to a "small kitchen fire."
- Spacey also discussed being fiercely closeted and said he felt "attacked" by the gay community rather than understood.
What Did Kevin Spacey Say About His Hollywood Comeback?
Appearing on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast this week, Kevin Spacey said he believes his career is rebounding after allegations from more than a dozen men surfaced during the #MeToo movement in late 2017. When Maher asked whether he remains in "show business jail," Spacey replied that he feels "less in jail than I did."
"I believe we're at a point now where people are starting to look at what actually happened, and I feel much more welcomed," Spacey said, according to Entertainment Weekly. He added that if he had been a sports figure, he would have been "benched for seven games" rather than sidelined for nearly a decade.
How Did the Sexual Assault Allegations Against Spacey Unfold?
The scandal began in October 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp alleged Spacey made an unwanted sexual advance toward him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. More than a dozen men subsequently accused the House of Cards star of sexual misconduct, which he has consistently denied or described as consensual.
Spacey was fired from Netflix's House of Cards and replaced by Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World. The fallout marked one of the highest-profile collapses of the #MeToo era, a pattern explored across our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries coverage.
What Were the Outcomes of Kevin Spacey's Court Cases?
Spacey told Maher he has won "in every court we've gone into with a jury." In October 2022, a federal jury in New York found him not liable in Rapp's $40 million civil lawsuit. In 2023, a London jury acquitted him of all nine criminal charges, including sexual assault allegations from four men between 2001 and 2013.
In March, Spacey agreed to a settlement with three men who accused him of sexual assault; the civil case was frozen and no financial terms were disclosed, Deadline reported. Spacey maintained that some claims were "rethought, redesigned, or entirely made up," citing the Rapp case specifically.
Why Did Spacey Compare the Scandal to a Kitchen Fire?
Maher told Spacey that with so many accusers, "there's too much smoke to be no fire." Spacey did not deny all wrongdoing, admitting, "I hit on a lot of guys." He said, "I never said there was no fire. It just wasn't a raging forest fire. It was a small kitchen fire that could have been put out with an extinguisher."
Beyond the legal battles, Spacey reflected on decades of being "fiercely closeted" and coming out as gay only after Rapp's allegations. He said that rather than the gay community understanding his secrecy, "I always felt that I was being attacked." Since his acquittals, he has appeared in smaller projects including the 2024 thriller The Contract and received industry honors abroad.