From Cannes, Kevin Spacey condemns 'blacklist' culture of the #MeToo movement

The Better World Fund (BWF), an NGO that promotes development projects in the Third World, honored Kevin Spacey on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival for his career and track record on Tuesday.

Spacey was awarded "for his decades of [a] brilliant artistic career," during a charity gala in Cannes.

BWF decided to invite Spacey - with two Oscars for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty - after having been acquitted of accusations of sexual assault by courts in the United Kingdom and the United States, the NGO confirmed to AFP.

Speaking at the Better World Fund gala, Kevin Spacey compared himself to screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who on suspicion of sympathizing with communism, was 'blacklisted' by Hollywood in the 1950s.

"I've been thinking about another person you've seen on the screen tonight, Kirk Douglas, great star of American cinema. It was a long, long time ago, but we have to think about the rejection he received after he made the courageous decision to defend his colleague, the two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo, who had been blacklisted between 1947 and 1960. He was on the blacklist. Blacklisted, do we know what that means?" asked Spacey.

"He couldn't find work in Hollywood for 13 years. But even after he was warned that if he tried to hire Trumbo as a credited screenwriter for Spartacus in 1960, he would be called a communist lover, and his career and his professional status would be canceled, Kirk Douglas took a chance, and would later say, and I won't do my Kirk Douglas impersonation, but he said this: 'It's easier for us actors to play the heroes on the screen. We have to fight against the bad guys and defend justice. But in real life, the choices are not always so clear. Sometimes you have to stand up for principles'" said the House of Cards star.