After being acquitted in 2023 of sexually assaulting four men, Kevin Spacey is being celebrated by Italy’s Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Spacey’s career will be toasted during a special gala evening on July 21 in Taormina. (The Nations Award has no relation to the Taormina Film Festival.)
There, Spacey is slated to give a “short onstage performance” during the ceremony, as first announced in a press statement obtained by Deadline.
The Nations Award is organized by the Senate of the Republic and the Sicily Regio; Michel Curatolo is the ceremony director. The award is in collaboration with artist consultant Marco Fallanca, who also was previously involved in the presentation of a (different) Lifetime Achievement award to Spacey at Italy’s National Cinema Museum in the northern Italian city of Turin in January 2023.
“Kevin Spacey is a timeless monument in film and theater history, who unquestionably deserves the chance to get his career back,” Curatolo and Fallanca said in a joint statement. “Taormina is one of Italy’s oldest movie celebrations and it is a true privilege to witness a taste of a performance by one of the acting greats of our time. Both his audience and the industry miss his boundless talent every single day and we are extremely proud to stand with such an unparalleled artist.”
Spacey is still facing a civil trial in the UK, set for 2025, over the same allegations for which he was acquitted in a criminal court last year. He has denied the claims from 10 public accusers, saying, “I take full responsibility for my past behavior and my actions. But I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me.”
The “American Beauty” actor was on trial for sexual and indecent assault charges over incidents alleged to have occurred between 2004 and 2013, when Spacey was the director of London’s famed Old Vic Theatre. Spacey stated that of the four men’s charges, two were consensual, one was a “clumsy pass,” and the fourth “never happened at all.” Spacey was also acquitted of multiple sexual-assault charges in the U.S., including one from actor Anthony Rapp.
The Nations Award has a history of celebrating controversial figures, with F. Murray Abraham receiving the Lifetime Achievement in 2023. Earlier the same year, Abraham was accused by two actresses of sexual misconduct on set. Abraham was allegedly fired from “Mythic Quest” because of the allegations.
Abraham issued an apology in April 2023, saying, “Though never my intention to offend anyone, I told jokes, nothing more, that upset some of my colleagues and as a result lost a great job with wonderful people. I have grown in my understanding from this experience, and I hope they will forgive me.”
Earlier this year, Jonathan Majors, who was convicted of assaulting (in the third degree) and harassing (in the second degree) his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, was celebrated with a Perseverance Award from news outlet Hollywood Unlocked. Majors was sentenced to a 52-week, in-person domestic violence intervention program.
It’s unclear whether Spacey’s Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement will impact a career comeback, but he has some allies. Auteur Paul Schrader plans on working with Spacey, telling Variety that he has been in contact with Spacey about casting him in a Frank Sinatra biopic.
“Cancel culture won’t let him go,” Schrader said. “He’s reading a book on how Charlie Chaplin was canceled.”
Schrader added of the potential biopic, “I would not use Kevin if he had been convicted. But he was not convicted.”
