Actor Kevin Spacey stated that he feels more welcome in Hollywood, believing his career is on an upward trajectory after facing numerous sexual misconduct and harassment allegations. Spacey, 66, discussed his perspective on Bill Maher's "Club Random" podcast, asserting that he has prevailed in "every court we’ve gone into with a jury."
"I think that things are moving in the direction that we hoped they were moving in," Spacey told Maher. He referenced the case brought by Anthony Rapp, who had accused Spacey of making an unwanted sexual advance in 1986 when Rapp was 14. A federal jury in New York found Spacey not liable on all counts in a civil lawsuit filed by Rapp in October 2022.
Spacey also admitted that some of his past behavior was excessive. "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," he said, adding, "I hit on a lot of guys."
In 2023, a London jury acquitted Spacey of nine sexual offense charges. These allegations spanned from 2001 to 2013 and included claims of sexual and indecent assault. More recently, in March, Spacey reached out-of-court settlements with three men who accused him of sexual assault between 2000 and 2013.
When the initial allegations surfaced in late 2017, Spacey was removed from his role in Netflix's "House of Cards" and was replaced in the film "All the Money in the World." He has consistently denied all allegations.
"When people actually start to hear the facts, understand what we won in courts, I think people now look at this and think, maybe nine years has been enough," Spacey remarked. He added, "If I had been a sports figure, I would have been benched for seven games. If you’re hitting home runs, they want you on the field."