Kevin Spacey thanked the Italian National Museum of Cinema for having "the guts" to recognize him and pay tribute to his entire acting career. The actor, who is facing several sex crime allegations, came to Turin to receive the "Stella della Mole" award. It was presented to him by Vittorio Sgarbi, undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Culture, at a ceremony organized by the museum to recognize his "personal aesthetic and authorial contribution to the development of the art of drama."
Sgarbi said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter that "tonight we’re witnessing Kevin Spacey’s comeback. The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight." Spacey thanked the institution for its courage in inviting him. He did so as soon as he took the stage, as reported by CNN: "I am surely blessed and grateful and humbled and my heart is very full tonight toward the museum of Cinema for having had the guts to invite me tonight."
Franco Nero and Evan Lowenstein are major supporters of Spacey
In addition, he also dedicated a few words to Franco Nero, an Italian director who, as Spacey explained in statements reported by Infobae, decided to trust him and hired him in 2021 as part of the cast of his film The Man Who Drew God (L'uomo che disegnò Dio) despite the controversy surrounding the House of Cards star at the time:
All my life I will be grateful to Franco Nero for getting me back on the set, for offering me a film when everyone else was afraid. The role does not matter, what matters is the gesture, what it did in a particular moment of my life.
He also thanked his manager, Evan Lowenstein, whom he called a true friend. Lowenstein was someone who helped him get his career back on track when all seemed lost, even now that he still faces several accusations of sex crimes:
I respect him professionally and personally, due to our friendship. It is thanks to him that I realized that I had to take all the setbacks and mistakes I made and get back on my feet, move forward.
Spacey has yet to appear in the U.K. for charges relating to a number of sexual offenses, including indecent assault, sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. Spacey denied these charges in their entirety.
