Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey breaks down in tears as he reveals he’s been forced to sell his home after court battles
SHAMED actor Kevin Spacey broke down in tears as he revealed being forced to sell his home after court battles.
Last year, the former Hollywood star was cleared of all charges in his sexual assault trial in London.
The 64-year-old had been accused of sexually assaulting four men between 2001 and 2015.
Speaking to Piers Morgan on his Uncensored show tonight, the House of Cards actor broke down while discussing his fall from grace.
I’m a human being, and if I fall in love with somebody across a room, then am I not supposed to go and have a conversation with them or see if they are interested because I’m famous?”
Kevin Spacey
As Piers asked where the star is now, Spacey said: “Well, it’s funny you asked that question, because this week, where I have been living in Baltimore, is being foreclosed on. My house is being sold at auction.”
He explained how he’s relocating back to Baltimore and having to keep his possessions in storage.
“So the answer to that question is, I’m not quite sure where I’m going to live now,” he added.
When asked why the house was being sold, Spacey admitted: “Because I can’t pay the bills that I owe.”
On potentially filing bankruptcy, the 64-year-old said: “It’s been a couple of times when I thought I was going to file, but we’ve managed to sort of dodge it, at least as of today.”
“How much money do you have?” asked Piers.
“None,” fired back Spacey.
“Well I mean, you have some sense of legal bills. I still owe a lot of legal bills that I have not been able to pay,” he explained.
When probed on how much money he owes, the actor said “it’s considerable” and “many millions”.
But, he vowed he will “get back on the horse”.
FALL FROM GRACE
After the allegations came to light, Spacey said he was not able “to process much”.
“[My manager] Evan recognized immediately that I was in a very, very dark place and he encouraged me to go take care of myself,” explained Spacey.
“So I immediately, really before any of the decisions that were made to punish me, I went into rehab.”
The Unusual Suspects star doubted whether he “was going to survive” and thanked his manager for his support.
He said he is now closer to his family, and his friends, since going through the last seven years.
Meanwhile on his much-criticised statement following the initial allegations, where Spacey referenced his own sexuality for the first time, he explained: “I am not sure that I could have said anything that would have been satisfactory.
“I mean I listen to that now and it is just awful. Look, I have to take full responsibility for that statement, it stops with me, it was a bad statement. I should have made separate statements about my sexuality and about his [actor Anthony Rapp’s] accusation.
“I suppose that the only thing that I can hope, is that now that we were able to prove in a federal court in 2022, that the accusation that Anthony Rapp had never happened, did not occur. I hope the fact that I am not guilty of what I was accused of, will at least in hindsight make people understand why I might have made it.”
Talking about the evidence presented in court in the case, he said he hopes Anthony Rapp will one day acknowledge that he had a “faulty memory” over the claims.
TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY
Spacey admitted he had reached out to people after the allegations came to light.
“They’re private conversations, Piers. I can just tell you that I’m grateful that people are talking to me,” he said.
“I’m grateful that they’re sharing what they’re sharing with me. I’m learning, I’m growing. And do you know what? About the work, it never stops. I will be doing this work for the rest of my life,” he added.
Spacey confessed: “I am absolutely 150% prepared to take accountability for those things that I did and the mistakes that I made.
“Bad, bad, bad behaviour sometimes.”
Being too handsy, touching someone sexually in a way that I didn’t know at the time they didn’t want
Spacey
He also claimed it was “absolutely true” that there was “general inappropriate behaviour” in the theatre industry.
“It’s been important for me to hear and listen to someone else’s perspective, why they didn’t feel they could say something to me at the time, it’s very, very important,” the actor explained.
“…I’ve tried in the workspace to not cross the line, because it’s always risky if you find yourself attracted to somebody you are working with,” he added.
The double-Oscar winner was also asked on his thoughts about “abuse of power”.
While Spacey said he “can understand that perspective”, he questioned why he should not “have a conversation” with someone.
“I’m a human being, and if I fall in love with somebody across a room, then am I not supposed to go and have a conversation with them or see if they are interested because I’m famous?” he said.
‘PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES’
Piers pushed him on the “bad behaviour” he mentioned.
“Pushing the boundaries,” Spacey admitted.
“In what way?” Questioned Uncensored host.
The actor replied: “Being too handsy, touching someone sexually in a way that I didn’t know at the time they didn’t want.”
“Some people would say that is criminal, that if you grope people in a sexual way against their wishes, that that is a crime,” pushed Piers.
Spacey answered: “I agree that the word ‘grope’ is a very odd word. I personally, I have caressed people, I have been gentle with people, that is the way that I am.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN AND GHISLAINE MAXWELL
THE actor came under scrutiny when reports surfaced about being flown to Epstein's Island.
When questioned about this, Spacey told Piers: “I didn’t know him. I have never spent any time with him. I was with the Clinton Foundation people, that’s who I was with.”
He added: “This Maxwell woman, she was one of many people to sit down next to me in that throne room. I have no relationship with her. I had no relationship with him. I mean he’s not my friend. I am not a confidant. I’ve never spent time with him.
“I never went to Jeffrey Epstein’s island. I did not know him and I never saw him or her after that morning at Buckingham Palace. He didn’t even come to Buckingham Palace, she was only there.”
Spacey even revealed how King Charles had indirectly sent him a message of support when the “scandal blew up”.
“I heard a message, yes, and I’m very, very grateful for that,” he recalled.
“A message of support?” Asked Piers.
“Yes,” Spacey replied.
“That must have meant a lot to you?, said the host.
“Yeah, but look, I don’t want to drag him into all this.”
He admitted he had written the King a letter but that he had not sent it yet.
“You’re making a pass at someone, you don’t want to be aggressive. You want to be gentle.
“You want to see if they’re going to respond positively. I think the word itself is not a word that I associate with my experience.”
When asked if his actions were “consensual” or “an attempt at seduction” gone wrong, the actor shot back “they should let you know they don’t want to do it so that you can understand it’s non-consensual and stop.”
He did make a vow to “never behave in the ways that I did previously, ever.”
I am absolutely 150% prepared to take accountability for those things that I did and the mistakes that I made. Bad, bad, bad behaviour sometimes
Spacey
On future relationships, the star said he hopes to find someone who can look beyond “the headlines” and fall in love.
He said he was “trying to seek a path of redemption” and is now trying to return to becoming a “full-time working actor”.
Spacey did appear on stage earlier this year performing Shakespeare at Oxford.
CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES
Spacey appeared before the bench in London last year after being accused of sexual assault against four men between 2004 and 2013.
He was found not guilty on all counts.
When asked why he was “emphatically cancelled”, despite being found not guilty, Spacey said: “What I’ve observed is that there’s a lot of fear. People are afraid for their own careers if they stand with someone who has been found not guilty. I hope as time goes on that will shift in the right direction.”
When asked by Piers about the trial and a potential “considerable” prison sentence, he said: “Only if we’d had a crazy jury, only if people hadn’t actually listened and taken the time to weigh the evidence that we presented in our defence, would that have ever been possible.”
He said he was “very, very fortunate” and thanked his “incredible team”.
Spacey became emotional and broke down when he spoke of his manager Evan, and said he owed him everything.
“There were times I wasn’t sure if I would make it,” he said.
Elton John support
SIR Elton John and Kevin Spacey celebrated the Hollywood actor being cleared of sex assaults — with a rendition of Suspicious Minds.
The Rocket Man singer gave a key testimony in Spacey’s trial last year and the pair partied in a restaurant with a band.
A video posted by The Snugglers showed Spacey, who had been accused of assaulting four men, filming as Elton joined in with the 1969 Elvis Presley classic.
The band wrote: “We had the chance to perform for those absolute legends: Sir Elton John and Kevin Spacey.
“In this clip Sir Elton is singing with us. Feeling Blessed.”
The dinner, also attended by Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish, was held at the posh Petite Maison in Nice, France.
Kevin happily posed for photos with fans in the city.
Last year he sobbed as he was acquitted at Southwark crown court.
The claims against him had centred on his time as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theatre.
One accuser said Spacey, 64, had grabbed his crotch at Sir Elton’s annual White Tie and Tiara Ball at his Berkshire mansion in 2004 or 2005.
Sir Elton, 76, and Mr Furnish, 60, gave evidence via videolink saying Spacey was at the lavish event only in 2001.
Sir Elton said he could not recall meeting the claimant, adding: “They could have been the Queen and I wouldn’t notice.”
Mr Furnish said: “I can confirm that Kevin Spacey attended the White Tie and Tiara Ball in 2001.
“I particularly remember he was a surprise guest and he was an Oscar-winning star, but he never attended another ball.”
Speaking to Piers tonight Spacey held back tears when talking about the backing from Elton John and his husband David Furnish.
He said they were pillars of support both inside and outside the courtroom.
“Elton was the first email I got, after the Rapp story came out, saying ‘we love you, whatever you need’,” said Spacey.
“What’s most interesting about the fact that they testified in the trial in the UK was that I didn’t ask them,” he continued.
“They insisted on it. That’s the kind of friends that I have been very fortunate to have in my life.”
“I mean look, the day it happens, I mean the actual day where they’re going to come in and tell you what the verdicts are, I was definitely like, ‘What if this doesn’t go the way I hope?’,” he recalled.
“But as each count was read and each time the juror said, ‘not guilty’, I knew that we had presented the right case, and I knew that we had the evidence to prove I was not guilty of those things that I was accused of.”
SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS
Piers questioned Spacey about claims made by a masseur in California that the actor had groped him.
“My response to it is that we had irrefutable evidence to show that I wasn’t even in the State of California when he made this accusation had occurred, and we were very confident that we were going to be able to present, as we have in other cases, that evidence,” fired back Spacey.
The 64-year-old also highlighted his accuser had been in his 60s, and subsequently passed away of cancer.
“It was sad but we never had the opportunity to go in front of the court and to prove our innocence,” added Spacey.
Where to find help
IF you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault these are some places to get help, according to the NHS.
Sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) offer medical, practical and emotional support to anyone who has been raped, sexually assaulted or abused. SARCs have specially trained doctors, nurses and support workers to care for you.
You can get help from a SARC by booking an appointment with your nearest one.
Other places you can get help include:
- a doctor or practice nurse at your GP surgery
- a voluntary organisation, such as Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Male Survivors Partnership
- the 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247
- the rape and sexual abuse support line run by Rape Crisis England and Wales – you can call the helpline on 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year)
- a hospital accident and emergency (A&E) department
- a genitourinary medicine (GUM) or sexual health clinic
- a contraceptive clinic
- a young people’s service
- call NHS 111 or get help from 111 online
- the police, or dial 101
- in an emergency, dial 999
He also mentioned other alleged accusers who sadly died, including a previous stalker who ended up being arrested, charged and convicted in the States.
Another man with “a lot of issues and a lot of substance abuse” had pointed the finger at Spacey, he said.
“A year later, when he sadly took his own life, someone then said that he had accused me of this, that he was a victim, and there was no court case with him, there was no court case with this woman who was a stalker. So they’re just, this is just internet conspiracy theories”, the actor added.
NETFLIX AXE
When trouble began for the Netflix star, the steaming platform immediately dropped him.
“I haven’t Netflixed and chilled for a while myself!” Spacey joked.
“I think that we had a really remarkable relationship and I think that there is no doubt that House of Cards really put them on the map,” said the actor.
He dubbed the move to chop him “strange” and the “wrong decision”.
Spacey also believed their snap actions led others to back claims against him.
While speaking about House of Cards, the actor, who played Francis Underwood, revealed co-star Robin Wright has not had contact since 2017.
But, he rejected claims she had “stabbed him in the back” and hailed her for being a “wonderful person, a wonderful actress”.
FAMILY SECRETS
The 64-year-old went on to discuss the relationships with his mother and father throughout childhood.
He said he was forced to “re-examine” the bond with his mum and “ask questions” he’d” never dealt with.
Spacey said: “… She didn’t protect me from my father.”
“I absolutely think she could have [protected me], and I’m not willing to remove her responsibility,” he explained.
“I was very fortunate that my sister told me repeatedly, ‘Don’t listen to him, he’s crazy’. My mother’s attitude was, ‘Oh, he just needs to get it off his chest’.”
He did say that he was eventually able to have conversations with his mother about things he’d never shared before.
“I do miss her,” the actor added emotionally.
'POSTIVE VOICE'
BEFORE the allegations of sexual assault arose, of which he has been cleared, Spacey had not been open about his sexuality.
He said he was “leading a relatively normal life” but that he “was just ‘in'”.
“I was closeted as a man, and I was fiercely closeted for a very long time, and now that I am out, regardless of the fact that I came out in a way that was not the best coming out party ever, I would like to try to be as positive a voice for those who are experiencing difficulty in embracing their own selves and their own lives,” Spacey added.
The actor said he is “so much happier” since coming out to the world and is “very grateful” for friends he’s made along the way.
The actor’s brother Randy previously opened up about their dad in the Channel 4 documentary Spacey Unmasked.
He explained that their father had “Nazi meetings” at the house and had a Nazi flag hanging up on the wall.
Randy said: “Kevin didn’t have a normal childhood. He just found a way to survive in an environment which was not a loving family.
“I think acting was a way for him to escape where he came from.”
Talking on the Uncensored show, Spacey recalled the darker parts of his youth.
“He [father] lectured me and my sister and my brother for hours and hours and hours and hours about his beliefs, and for me, I was so afraid to bring my friends home,” he said.
“My best friend Mike, who’s still my great friend to this day, I was afraid to bring him home because he was Jewish, and I was afraid that my father would leave his door open and he would see this Nazi flag hanging there. I was terrified of what he might say.”
This fear pushed him out of the house into school activities and the theatre, so he could hide his reality.
Spacey said he believed “secrets kept me safe”.
“I’ve since accepted that they really didn’t, and they really don’t,” he added.
Acting became “an escape” for the young lad and he looked back on his theatre days fondly.
“Theatre was this incredible place where I could disappear into or film where I could become a character,” he recalled.
He mentioned legends Nathan Lane and Sir Ian McKellan, who did not talk about their sexuality from the start of their careers, and said this “resonated” with him.
CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY
Spacey was asked about the claims made in Spacey Unmasked.
He said he was given seven days to respond to them at the time.
The House of Cards star said: “I don’t know when Channel 4 is going to tell the British public whether they paid people or not. I know my brother has been paid.”
On the subject of his estranged brother, he said: “Channel 4 presented this as if this was some deep dive, they called it a forensic investigation, and at the centre of this documentary, they used my brother.
“Now my brother moved out of the house when he was 17. I then moved to New York to go to Juilliard when I was 19, and in all the years since, which is nearly 50 years, we have seen each other, even he admitted, maybe four times.
“The guy who drove me here, the Uber that you guys sent, I know that guy better than I know my brother, and he’s out there telling all these stories and talking about how he knows me.
“So that’s the armchair psychologist that you use at the centre of this documentary.”
For the full interview watch Piers Morgan Uncensored on YouTube from 8pm tonight UK time, 3pm in the USA ET.