Kevin Spacey was given a standing ovation at a theatre in Oxford on Monday night – in his first stage appearance since being cleared of sexual assault – after performing a brief scene by Shakespeare.
The 64-year-old actor delivered a five-minute scene from Timon of Athens during a lecture at the Sheldonian theatre, held in memory of the late conservative philosopher Roger Scruton.
Spacey’s appearance came days after a cinema in London withdrew its offer to host the premiere of a British film, Control, reportedly when it learned the film featured the Oscar-winning actor.
In July, Spacey was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men after a four-week trial at Southwark crown court in London. He had denied the charges, claiming the allegations against him were “madness”, “absolute bollocks” and a “stab in the back”. He claimed the men were financially motivated and that one was after “money, money, and then money”.
The prosecution accused Spacey of being a “sexual bully” who exploited his fame and power to abuse the complainants.
The actor Anthony Rapp was the first to come forward with allegations in a BuzzFeed article, accusing Spacey of an unwanted sexual advance. Rapp attempted to sue Spacey for $40m (£31m) in a civil trial in New York, but the former House of Cards star was found not liable last October.
Despite the court rulings, Spacey has yet to return to mainstream productions in film, television and theatre. He does not appear in person in Control but provides the voice of a villain who remotely hijacks the self-driving car of the home secretary.
When staff at the Prince Charles cinema in London, which was to host the film’s premiere, discovered Spacey was involved they backed out of the event.
Greg Lynn, who runs the cinema, wrote to the film’s producer, Lauren Metcalfe, in an email seen by the Telegraph: “Last night it came to our attention that your film features Kevin Spacey, in particular his first film since the court case. My staff as well as I are horrified that we are being mentioned in the same breath as his new film for the premiere.”
Douglas Murray, the conservative columnist who invited Spacey to perform in Oxford and delivered the lecture, titled The Life and Legacy of Sir Roger Scruton, told the Times that Timon of Athens was about what “happens when a society drops a person for no reason”.
Scruton died of cancer in January 2020 at the age of 75. In 2018, he was appointed to the role of housing adviser to the UK government, but was sacked in April 2019 after he was judged to have made racist remarks during an interview with the New Statesman.
He was reappointed in July 2019 after the magazine apologised and said that his views had been misrepresented. Views of Scruton’s legacy remain divisive. Championed by the conservative movement, critics have accused him of fuelling modern anti-immigrant culture.
