Actor Kevin Spacey, who fell from public grace after sexual assault and misconduct allegations exploded in 2017, admitted in a rare interview Tuesday that he was “pushing the boundaries” and “being too handsy” with people in the past.
Spacey, 64, the winner of two Oscars, broke down in tears during the interview, which aired Tuesday on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” revealing he’s on the brink of bankruptcy and will lose his Baltimore home after having racked up millions in legal debt.
He fell from Hollywood's peak, getting fired from his starring role as Frank Underwood in the hit Netflix series “House of Cards,” after actor Anthony Rapp accused him in October 2017 of making a sexual advance when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.
Spacey was then plunged into the throes of the #MeToo movement.
He was accused in 2017 of groping an 18-year-old at a Massachusetts bar in 2016; charges were dropped in 2019 when prosecutors withdrew the case after the accuser refused to testify.
Rapp sued Spacey alleging sexual assault and sexual battery in September 2020. Two years later in federal civil court, Spacey was found not liable on all counts.
Last year, he was found not guilty in a U.K. court of sexually assaulting four men while he was the artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre. In that case, he was acquitted of nine counts on charges that dated from 2004 to 2013.
Spacey will face a civil trial in the U.K. next year after he was sued by a man who claims Spacey sexually assaulted him.
'I will never behave in the ways that I did previously, ever'
Spacey admitted in the interview with Morgan that he had participated in "bad behavior" by “touching someone sexually in a way that I didn’t know at the time they didn’t want.”
Morgan challenged him, responding that some would consider that groping.
“I agree that the word ‘grope’ is a very odd word. I personally, I have caressed people. I have been gentle with people. That is the way that I am. You’re making a pass at someone, you don’t want to be aggressive, you want to be gentle and see if they’re going to respond positively. I think the word itself is not a word that I associate with my experience,” he said.
Morgan asked whether those experiences were consensual or whether they were repelled and considered nonconsensual by recipients.
“Then they should let you know they don’t want to do it, so that you can understand it’s nonconsensual and stop,” Spacey said.
Morgan said that given his position in Hollywood, if Spacey had pursued younger, less experienced actors, recipients might not be honest about consent, given the power dynamics.
“Yes, and again, recognizing that, understanding that and making a vow that that will never happen again for the rest of my life. I will never behave in the ways that I did previously, ever,” Spacey said.
Falling into a 'dark' place
Spacey revealed that, following the 2017 allegations, there were "a couple of times when it was very dark and when I was at my lowest.”
He responded to the Rapp allegations in a statement in which he also came out as gay, which in hindsight he said was "a bad statement."
“I should have made separate statements about my sexuality and about his accusation," Spacey said.
"I suppose that the only thing I can hope is that now that we were able to prove in a federal court in 2022 that the accusation by Anthony Rapp had never happened, did not occur, that people will understand that I was coming from a place where in my heart of hearts I didn’t believe it had happened," he told Morgan. "I was a little bit pushed into the corner."
He said that before the allegations, he had been fiercely private about speaking about his personal life and sexuality.
“It’s just been unusual for me to find myself in a place where I am OK with having conversations about things that for a very long time I was so determined and kept people away, that I kind of feel like now I have nothing to hide and now I want to live a more open life than the one I did,” Spacey told Morgan.
Following the allegations emerged, he went to the therapy, and after having been in multiple programs, he said, “I absolutely believe I’m a better person.”
“There were bouts with arrogance. There were bouts with ego," he said. “I’m enormously grateful that my focus has shifted. My goal is no longer to be the best actor, and it was — my goal now is to be a man of good character.”
Bankruptcy and debt
Spacey broke down as he revealed his house in Baltimore is being foreclosed on.
“My house is being sold at auction. So I have to go back to Baltimore and put all my things in storage. ... I’m not quite sure where I’m going to live now," he said, noting he moved to Baltimore in 2012 to shoot "House of Cards."
When Morgan asked, “Why is it being foreclosed?” Spacey responded, “Because I can’t pay the bills that I owe,” saying he faces “many millions” in legal bills.
Spacey said there have been a couple of times when he thought he would file for bankruptcy — “but we’ve sort of managed to sort of dodge it. At least as of today.”
“What are you going to do?” Morgan asked.
“Get back on the horse,” Spacey replied.
CORRECTION (June 12, 2:30 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the outcome of Anthony Rapp’s civil suit against Kevin Spacey. Spacey was only found not liable; he was not found not guilty.