Kevin Spacey wrote me a letter once. It wasn’t very long — just a few sentences of gratitude and encouragement scratched out on a sheet of his personal stationary. It had a little drop of what looked like coffee on it, which I found sort of endearing. I keep it in a drawer in my grandfather’s old desk.
You see, when I was much younger, I had acting aspirations that never quite got off the ground. I eventually got over them, sort of, but in 2014 or so, I began toying with the idea again. Spacey and director Sam Mendes made a documentary around that time that took viewers behind the scenes of their production of Shakespeare’s Richard III, and I loved it. I felt compelled to write the actor to let him know that I did. I never expected a reply.
But I thought it was kind of neat that this guy who was, at the time, one of the most recognizable men in the world took a moment out of his schedule to do this. Not long after that, I remember hearing a local story about him being in my hometown of Atlanta filming a movie and taking a day to visit the local children’s hospital. Seems like a good person, I thought.
House of Cards star Kevin Spacey visited Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta this weekend. pic.twitter.com/UGpEUFrgSD
— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) March 20, 2016
I tell you this to admit up front that I’m biased, but this article is not about that. Spacey is one of the greatest acting talents to ever grace the screen. And I think it’s time for Hollywood to show him some grace for all of our sakes.
We all know what happened to him. In 2017, some actor accused him of abuse thirty years prior. Others came forward with similar stories. A witch hunt ensued. Spacey admitted he hasn’t always been on his best behavior, but he didn’t do that, and he won every single legal battle thrown his way. Not a single judge, jury, or law enforcement probe was able to conclude that any of these accusations were true.
Even so, Hollywood dropped him like a woman over the age of 30. Roles were jerked out from under him. His agents cut him within 48 hours. His peers acted as if they had no idea who interviewers were talking about when they mentioned his name. His personal life became public gossip.
Journalists, as they often do, jumped on the bandwagon with clickbait headlines, failing to actually try to get his side of the story, and before you know it, this man who gave us some of the greatest movie and television moments of the previous few decades was, as he puts it in a recent interview with The Telegraph, a “villain.”
Because Hollywood is such a pure town. Because the film industry absolutely does not work with people who may or may not have done something bad in their past. Because studio heads, directors, producers, etc. are so progressive and superior. Because the media only tells the truth.
Please, most of the people would throw God himself under a bus on Hollywood Boulevard if they thought He was going to cost them a few dollars.
That’s why Mel Gibson has said some of the most horrific things, but we’re still watching his movies. Roman Polanski has admittedly done much worse than anything Spacey was even accused of, and he’s still receiving standing ovations. Comedian Louis C.K. was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017 as well, confessed it was all true, and today, he’s selling out his comedy tours again. Alec Baldwin has his own reality show, and I don’t have time to list all of the terrible things he’s done. And not Hollywood necessarily, but look at someone like Michael Vick. He went from career criminal who committed some of the cruelest of acts on the most innocent of creatures to a TV analyst and now a college football coach who is inspiring the lives of young men. We have receipts on these people. Spacey has a string of “not guilty” verdicts.
Unfortunately, all of this didn’t just cost Spacey his reputation. He was forced to speak out on personal matters he wasn’t comfortable talking about publicly and that were none of our business anyway. He lost his home in Baltimore to foreclosure. He lost nearly every penny he had fighting the legal battles. He’s had to start all over again at the bottom of a craft that he essentially owned. I don’t say this so you’ll feel sorry for him — most of us have found ourselves in situations like these where we had to rebuild, and I have a feeling that a “broke” Kevin Spacey still has more money than a broke me or most of you — I say this because the man has paid his dues.
I haven’t kept up with him all that closely in recent years, but I have watched him do some interviews. Every time, I see a man who’s been humbled by his circumstances, someone who deserves a second chance. Justice has been served. At this point, we’re just being petty.
The Telegraph article I mentioned has been making the rounds lately because it painted Spacey as someone who is “homeless.” Or, at least, the headline did. If you read the actual article, you realize he’s been living in hotels and Airbnbs while he travels around, taking acting roles here and there, and Spacey himself took to social media to clear that up on Sunday. He’s not asking you to feel sorry for him either. He just wants to get back to work.
In gratitude 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/P0zcxCo0gk
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) November 23, 2025
According to the article, he’s worked on six films over the last three years, and he says the people who approach him are those new to the industry — emerging talent. He’s also doing a musical act at night clubs in places like Cyprus and Israel, during which he sings standards from the records he grew up listening to with his mother and telling stories.
But I’m ready to see him back making movies or TV that most of us might actually see. And I realize that this isn’t the most important issue in the grand scheme of things. Believe me, I spend more time than you can imagine studying and witnessing some of the most horrific human conditions in our hemisphere, and the deeper into it I get, the more I realize just how much of what we covet isn’t all that important.
That said, good stories are important, whether they come in the version of a blockbuster film, a cool TV series, a novel you can’t put down, or an intriguing article you read on our site. Escaping real life, even for a moment, is important. Entertainment is important. Creativity is important. Taking someone on trip to somewhere they’ve never been and will probably never go, even if it’s just through their imagination is important.
Movies used to feel magical, bold, beautiful, dangerous. They took us out of wherever we were in that moment in time and gave us one and a half hours of something fresh and new.
Today’s Hollywood is bankrupt when it comes to all of that. Stories are recycled, rebooted, and remade. Creativity and art have been replaced with agendas and formulas. We need the Kevin Spaceys of the world to change that before it’s too late.
Two quick side notes:
1. I know Kevin Spacey is a Democrat, and some of you will rush to the comments section to point that out. But let’s not be like the lefties who won’t go to Thanksgiving because their Aunt Edna voted for Donald Trump. Good storytelling and talent transcends politics. Humanity transcends voting records. Spacey’s beliefs are not of my concern, and even if they were, I want to be able to decide which artists’ work I enjoy. I don’t want to hand that decision over to social media mobs and the loudest virtue-signaling voices in our culture.
2. I wanted to recommend two of my favorite performances of his. First is the 2001 film The Shipping New. It’s actually one of my favorite movies. My mom and I used to watch it together occasionally, as she loved it too. Another is The Life of David Gale. It is political, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it —I just read that it received awful reviews, but I liked it. And, of course, I loved the series House of Cards. Your mileage may vary.
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