Can Kevin Spacey Hope for a Comeback?

Actor Kevin Spacey has been acquitted of charges of sexual assault in the United Kingdom. The film industry had turned away from him due to the allegations. Will he now manage to make a comeback in Hollywood?

Kevin Spacey was relieved and moved to tears after the verdict. In a brief statement in London, the actor said he needed time to process the events. He expressed enormous gratitude to the jury for carefully examining all the evidence before reaching a decision. Spacey stated that he was humbled by the outcome of the trial.

Four men had accused the Oscar-winning actor of various forms of sexual coercion, spanning from 2001 to 2013 in the UK. Spacey had consistently denied the allegations, asserting that all sexual encounters were consensual. On Wednesday, the jury acquitted him of all charges.

Similarly, the charges brought against Spacey in the US in previous years could not be substantiated. For instance, he faced a civil lawsuit for abuse, where his fellow actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him as a teenager. In 2022, Spacey was also acquitted of those charges.

Stripped from TV series and movies

Before the allegations became public, Spacey was primarily known as a highly successful Hollywood actor. He had already won two Oscars for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty.” Many viewers also recognized him for his role as the cunning and ruthless politician Frank Underwood in the Netflix series “House of Cards.”

However, once the accusations came to light, Netflix responded swiftly, removing Spacey from the series and suing him for damages, citing violations of set conduct rules. Director Ridley Scott subsequently replaced him in the film “All the Money in the World.” The Hollywood film industry distanced itself from him.

Spacey’s YouTube defense

In response to the accusations, Spacey released a self-made video on YouTube in 2018, seemingly in character as President Frank Underwood, defending himself:

“They’re just dying to have me declare that everything said is true, and that I got what I deserved. Wouldn’t that be easy? If it was all so simple? We both know it’s never that simple, not in politics and not in life.”

Hollywood remains silent

Since then, Spacey has appeared in two smaller productions, one Croatian and one Italian film. The movie “Peter Five Eight,” in which Spacey plays the lead role of a “glamorous real estate agent with a dark secret,” is set to be released in US theaters in August.

But does this mark a comeback? In an interview with the German “Zeit” magazine, Spacey stated that if he were acquitted, his phone would start ringing again.

However, prominent voices congratulating him on his acquittal are hard to come by. Hollywood remains largely silent. Perhaps it is still too early to determine whether Spacey’s career can regain momentum and whether he will be welcomed back to the red carpets—though they are currently on hold due to the ongoing actors’ strike.