NEWSKevin Spacey Excited About Career Comeback After Spending 9 Years in 'Hollywood Jail' Over Sexual Misconduct Scandals: 'I Feel Much More Welcomed'
Kevin Spacey said he feels 'much more welcomed' as he attempts a Hollywood comeback after years of controversy.
June 29 2026, Published 11:36 a.m. ET
Kevin Spacey believes his years in "Hollywood jail" may finally be coming to an end.
During a candid interview with Bill Maher, the Oscar winner said he feels his career is beginning to recover after nearly a decade of legal battles and public fallout stemming from multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
'I Feel Much More Welcomed'
The Oscar winner reflected on his legal victories during a candid interview with Bill Maher.
Appearing on Maher's "Club Random" podcast, Spacey said he has noticed a shift in how he's being received by the entertainment industry.
"I feel much more welcomed, and I think that things are moving in the direction that we hoped they were moving in," he shared.
The actor also pointed to his courtroom victories, telling Maher: "There are certain cases where part of something is true, but it's been rethought, it's been redesigned, or it's been entirely made up, certainly in the case of Anthony Rapp, which is a case that we won in federal court in New York."
Rapp accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him when he was 14 years old. In 2022, a New York jury found Spacey not liable in the civil lawsuit filed by the actor.
Spacey argued that public opinion has shifted as more people learn the outcomes of his court cases.
'There Was No Raging Forest Fire'
Spacey admitted he crossed boundaries in the past while maintaining that some accusations were exaggerated.
Maher acknowledged the number of allegations made against Spacey over the years while sharing his own perspective.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I go by numbers with scandals," Maher explained. "If it's like one person, I'm always like, I don't know if I wasn't in the room."
He continued: "There's too much smoke to be no fire."
Spacey responded by admitting he had crossed boundaries but argued the claims had been exaggerated.
"I never said there was no fire," he replied. "It just wasn't a raging forest fire. It was a small kitchen fire that could have been put out with an extinguisher."
The actor also acknowledged: "I hit on a lot of guys."
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'Maybe 9 Years Has Been Enough'
Bill Maher acknowledged the allegations against the actor but said he believes Spacey has already paid a steep professional price.
Maher said he believed Spacey "should have gotten some punishment" but argued the actor had already endured significant consequences.
"A 10-year sentence is a serious sentence," Maher said.
Spacey agreed, comparing his professional exile to serving time behind bars.
"I feel less in jail than I did," he spilled. "When people actually start to hear the facts, understand what we won in courts, I think people now look at this and think, maybe nine years has been enough."
He added: "If I had been a sports figure, I would have been benched for seven games. If you're hitting home runs, they want you on the field."
Following the allegations, Spacey was fired from Netflix's House of Cards and replaced by Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World. Since then, he has largely worked on European productions and independent films.
'I Was Fiercely Closeted'
The actor also reflected on spending much of his career in the closet before publicly coming out as gay in 2017.
Spacey also addressed the rumors surrounding his sexuality that circulated throughout his career.
"I was fiercely closeted... I thought I was so clever that nobody knew, but of course, kind of everybody knew," he recalled.
"I never understood why you kept that a secret," Maher admitted. "There's a point where it was so much cooler to be gay... If I, who they're pretty rough on, at some point came out as gay, it would be the greatest thing that ever happened."
Spacey publicly came out as gay in 2017 in a statement responding to Rapp's allegations.
