‘Too handsy’? Was anyone convinced by Kevin Spacey’s confession to Piers Morgan?

What did Kevin Spacey hope to achieve by appearing on Piers Morgan?

Perhaps, more pressingly: what did Piers Morgan hope to achieve by allowing the disgraced actor – who has been widely pilloried over the past seven years, following a series of allegations of sexual misconduct – to lament his exile on screen, virtually unchallenged?

It’s not the first TV interview the The Usual Suspects star has given; or the first time we’ve heard him talk about his professional purgatory, particularly in the wake of fresh allegations.

Spacey was cleared of all sexual assault and unwanted sexual advance charges in the criminal and civil courts in America and the UK and has always denied any of his behaviour illegal. On screen, he referred to his conduct as being “too handsy”; with all the tone and foresight of a naughty school boy admitting he asked the dinner staff for seconds.

To me, this lent an air almost akin to the ill-fated interview Prince Andrew gave to Emily Maitlis in 2019, when his memorably odd justifications (“I don’t sweat!) and alibis (being in Pizza Express in Woking!) made most of us way more suspicious of his behaviour and general character than we had been before.

True, it doesn’t have the same “gotcha” gravitas as the Duke of York’s TV appearance – Spacey’s reputation has already been tarnished, long before his one-off interview with Morgan aired last night. But I was left decidedly uncomfortable with the air of sympathy and understanding that surrounded his “explanations” of his behaviour.

As someone who has worked in the theatre industry in London – who’s met Spacey – when the allegations broke, I felt a cold shiver.

To me, Spacey describing his creepy behaviour as being “too handsy” – and justifying non-consensual touch as “caressing”, rather than groping, because you make your moves “sensitively” on potential new partners – is no excuse at all.

Spacey himself admitted his actions could have been read as non-consensual. He said he was guilty of “touching someone sexually in a way that I didn’t know at the time they didn’t want”. Spacey said that these people “should let you know they don’t want to do it so that you can understand it’s non-consensual and stop” – a clear example of victim-blaming. And what is the difference between being “handsy” with someone who doesn’t want you to be – and sexual abuse?

I found his display on Piers Morgan Uncensored unconvincing, even posed. When one allegation from a younger man was shown on a television screen, he shifted uncomfortably, looking down. His answers seemed to me rehearsed and lacking emotion; his tearful breakdowns forced and confected. Mostly, though, it was just boring: an exercise in delivering platitudes about how bad his life has become for an hour and a half, protestations we’ve heard before.

Morgan wasn’t nearly hard enough on him – choosing, instead, to ask Spacey about whether he’d had a boyfriend in the last seven years. It felt laughably banal, given the seriousness of the testimonies against him. Morgan, who is famous for putting the pressure on, weirdly seemed to skirt the fresh admittances without going into more detail.

Why didn’t he ask what does “a bit handsy” means? Or what “caressing” means, in particular, in this instance? Why did he so strangely swerve around it?

The domestic abuse campaigner David Challen said it best, writing on X: “Piers is now interviewing Kevin Spacey about his past behaviour which Spacey himself describes as “pushing the boundaries” and “being too handsy”. You mean sexual assault, Kevin. Right?” He condemns Morgan for “allowing this man to not only excuse his behaviour but illicit sympathy through victim blaming.”

Spacey said what he said, and the court of public opinion is open for business. Spacey still has to stand a civil trial in the UK. We might be about to find out whether he can sweat.