The Japan Times - Spacey walks Cannes red carpet as comeback continues

The star of "American Beauty" and drama series "House of Cards" saw his once-stellar career derailed by multiple allegations of sexual offences, which first emerged in 2017 as part of the #MeToo movement.

Spacey, who maintained his innocence, was acquitted of nine cases of alleged sex offences in Britain in 2023 and a New York court dismissed a $40 million civil sexual misconduct lawsuit against the "Usual Suspects" actor in 2022.

In March this year, he settled out of court with three men who had launched a UK civil suit against him.

The 66-year-old, who collected a lifetime achievement award from a charity in Cannes last year, attended the premiere of a French blockbuster about political leader Charles de Gaulle with model Via Lemann on Wednesday.

Cannes Festival unveiled a no-tolerance policy on sexual misconduct last year, under pressure from lawmakers and #MeToo anti-abuse activists.

A French actor, Theo Navarro-Mussy, who faced rape allegations by three women, was barred in 2025 from the premiere of a French film in the running for the festival's top prize.

Spacey told Britain's Telegraph newspaper in November last year that he had no fixed home anymore and had spent his fortune, with "very little coming in and everything going out”.

He performed in the film "Peter Five Eight" in 2024, which was largely ignored by critics, and took a first TV role since the scandals late last year in "Minimarket", a comedy series for Italy‘s state broadcaster RAI, Variety reported.

He won the best supporting actor Oscar for the 1996 film "The Usual Suspects" and best actor in 2000 for "American Beauty".

S.Ogawa--JT