Kevin Spacey has claimed his Hollywood career is on the mend, telling Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast on Monday that he feels “much more welcome” in the industry after years of being effectively frozen out following dozens of sexual misconduct allegations.
“I feel much more welcome and I think things are moving in the direction that we hoped they were moving in,” House of Cards said the actor, 66.
He pointed to his courtroom as central to his argument.
“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 a fire extinguisher,” he told Maher, also acknowledging that “I hit a lot of guys.”
Maher, 70, was not entirely on his side.
The comedian made it clear to Spacey that he believed some of the allegations against him were valid, saying there was “too much smoke for no fire” given the scale of the allegations.
He suggested Spacey “should have received some punishment,” while also acknowledging that the actor had “paid a lot.”
Spacey’s response was to suggest that the ledger has now been wound up.
“I feel less in prison than I did. When people actually start to hear the facts, understand what we won in the courts, I think people are now looking at this and thinking maybe nine years was enough.”
He also offered a sports analogy: “If I had been a sports figure, I would have been benched for seven games. If you hit a home run, they want you on the field.”
The allegations against Spacey began to emerge in late 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp claimed that Spacey had made an unwanted sexual advance towards him when Rapp was 14.
Rapp filed a $40 million civil lawsuit, but a federal jury found Spacey not liable on all counts in October 2022.
In 2023, a jury in London found him not guilty of nine counts of sexual assault relating to allegations made between 2001 and 2013.
In March of this year, Spacey settled out of court with three men who alleged sexual assaults between 2000 and 2013. He has denied all charges throughout.
On top of the allegations, Spacey was fired from Netflix’s House of Cards and replaced in Ridley Scott’s All the money in the world.
Whether Hollywood is truly ready to welcome him back remains to be seen — but Spacey at least seems to think the tide is turning.
