Kevin Spacey met with standing ovation at Oxford University lecture on cancel culture
It was actor’s first stage performance since acquittal for sexual assault
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kevin Spacey was given a standing ovation by an audience at the University of Oxford last night (16 October), after he delivered a performance as part of a lecture about “cancel culture”.
It was the first time the House of Cards actor, 64, has performed on stage since the US star was acquitted of sexual assault against four men in a London trial that ended in July 2023.
Spacey delivered a five-minute scene from Timon of Athens, William Shakespeare’s satire of wealth, greed and betrayal. Modern critics have described the work as an exploration of what is now often called “cancel culture”.
The play, written in the early 1600s, is about a rich citizen of the Greek city who lavishes all his wealth on parasitic writers and artists. When he loses his wealth, his former friends abandon him. The excerpt was seemingly performed by Spacey as a way to discuss his own exile from Hollywood in the wake of the sexual assault allegations. Timon of Athens ultimately ends with its protagonist becoming a bitter recluse, having been shunned by the society of Athens.
Spacey’s performance came during a lecture dedicated to the late Sir Roger Scruton, a philosopher who was fired as a government adviser after a New Statesman journalist tweeted a truncated quote from an interview he gave, about Chinese people being “a kind of replica of the next one”.
The magazine later apologised for misquoting Scruton and he was reinstated as an adviser. He died in 2020 aged 75.
Douglas Murray, the conservative columnist who delivered the Oxford lecture and invited Spacey to perform, told The Times: “It’s about what happens when a society drops a person for no reason. It’s something that has been on Kevin’s mind, as it was on Roger Scruton’s mind, so I said I want him to be back on stage in the UK.”
Spacey’s Oxford appearance came days after West End cinema The Prince Charles cancelled its offer to host the premiere of the British film Control, when venue bosses found out that it starred the actor.
Control follows government minister (Lauren Metcalfe), who is having an affair with the Prime Minister (Mark Hampton) and ends up being kidnapped after her self-driving car is hijacked.
Spacey voices the vengeful villain who has taken control of the car. He does not appear physically in the film, but recorded his part in London last December while awaiting trial.
British director Gene Fallaize previously told Variety: “He is naturally quiet and comes across as quite shy. He seemed fine. I mean, I didn’t know Kevin before all of this so I can’t say what he was like in comparison to what he was like before. But you know, he just seemed like a nice guy.”
He added that he did not have any reservations about casting Spacey. “The only people that know everything are the ones that were in that courtroom and they decided he was not guilty,” Fallaize said.
“These people that are saying – if they’re saying – that we’re whitewashing him or enabling him to come back, what facts have they got to contradict the jury? I don’t regret casting Kevin and I would do it all over again.”
Control will be released in the UK and the US on 15 December.