Kevin Spacey appeared onstage Monday night for the first time since being acquitted of several sexual assault charges.
The disgraced actor was met with a standing ovation from fans gathered at the “What Shakespeare Can Teach Us About Cancel Culture” lecture at the University of Oxford. The lecture was led by columnist Douglas Murray and honored the late conservative British philosopher Roger Scruton, according to Rolling Stone. Spacey performed a five-minute scene from “Timon of Athens,” which Murray reportedly said contained moments that paralleled Spacey’s recent experiences.
Scruton was fired from his U.K. government role in the wake of a New Statesman magazine interview that sparked backlash, and he’s allegedly faced many of the same damaging effects of cancel culture Spacey is experiencing as a result of his sexual assault case.
Murray spoke in advance of the performance, saying, “In an era of cancellation and defenestration, we sometimes forget that we both cannot go on like this and that we have been here before … Timon has the whole world before him.”
“He is surrounded by friends and admirers. He is generous to all. Yet he falls on hard times and when he does absolutely everybody deserts him,” he added before Spacey came onstage.
Murray introduced Spacey as “one of the greatest actors of his generation and somebody I am very proud to call a friend.”
Spacey went on to perform a five-minute monologue.
“Why dost thou seek me out,” Spacey said. “Thou art a fool, The icy precepts of respect, but follow’d. The sugar’d game before thee. But myself. Who had the world as my confectionary. The mouths, the tongues, the eyes and hearts of men. At duty, more than I could frame employment.”
Towards the end of his performance, Spacey said, “I am sick of this false world, and will love it not.” (RELATED: REPORT: Kevin Spacey Rushed To Hospital)
A U.K. jury cleared Spacey of nine sexual assault charges in July, stemming from incidents that allegedly occurred from 2001 to 2013. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.