Kevin Spacey Receives Standing Ovation After Oxford Lecture on Cancel Culture

Following an Oxford lecture on cancel culture, Kevin Spacey was given a standing ovation for performing a speech from Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton’s “Timon of Athens.”

It was Spacey’s first onstage performance since he was acquitted of sexual assault charges earlier this year. Douglas Murray, a columnist for The Telegraph as well as a friend of Spacey’s, led the Oxford lecture. The presentation and performance took place at the historic Sheldonian Theatre. Watch the full performance above.

“In an era of cancellation and defenestration, we sometimes forget that we cannot go on like this and also that we’ve been here before,” Murray said prior to Spacey’s performance, noting that the greatest writers and artists have addressed questions around cancellation “in their own times.”

The specific scene Spacey performed follows the philosopher Apermantus warning the titular Timon that he will one day be abandoned by everyone he holds dear.

“Timon has the whole world before him. He’s surrounded by friends and admirers. He’s been generous to all. Yet he falls on hard times in the city, and when he does absolutely everyone deserts him,” Murray says to introduce the scene. “He’s left with nothing and nobody and risks being filled with despair and rage.”

It should be noted that “Timon of Athens” isn’t a play that explores the subject of sexual assault or even legal accusations. Rather, it follows the fall of one man after he’s given away his vast fortune and realizes the people he once thought of as friends were using him for his wealth.

In May of 2022, Spacey was charged by the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service with four counts of sexual assault against three men. Spacey maintained that he was innocent throughout the trial. Ultimately, three charges against Spacey were dismissed and a jury found the actor not guilty of the remaining nine charges in July.

This case is similar to how the one involving actor Anthony Rapp unfolded in the U.S. In 2020, Rapp accused Spacey of sexual assault and sexual battery in 1986. At the time of the alleged incident, Rapp was 14 years old. In October of 2022, a jury found Spacey not guilty of sexually abusing Rapp.

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