‘Thank you so much for acknowledging his crimes’: Internet fumes over Kevin Spacey’s charity award at Cannes

Disgraced Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey will be given a lifetime achievement award on the fringes of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. Spacey, who has been accused of sexual misconduct charges, has been slapped with a fresh case of sexual harassment recently. While the honour is not part of the main Cannes Film Festival, the honour has not gone down too well with many on the internet.

Kevin Spacey to be honoured at Cannes

The Better World Fund told AFP that the actor -- who was acquitted of nine cases of alleged sex offences in Britain in 2023 -- will be recognised "for his decades of artistic brilliance" at a charity gala in the French Riviera resort.

The charity told AFP Monday that it had invited Spacey because he had been cleared by the courts. A New York court dismissed a $40 million civil sexual misconduct lawsuit against the Usual Suspects star in 2022.

Kevin Spacey faces new charges of sexual misconduct

In May 2024, new claims of inappropriate sexual behaviour emerged in a British television documentary, Spacey Unmasked. In it, 10 men accused Spacey of behaving inappropriately towards them. These men were not involved in the UK case against hi. Spacey who has had a stellar career in acting and multiple awards in his kitty, denied any wrongdoing. Spacey’s career has been derailed significantly ever since the first case in 2018 came to light.

In February, lawyers for former actor Ruari Cannon told AFP that he was taking a High Court case against Spacey and London's Old Vic Theatre, where the actor was artistic director between 2003 and 2015. In the documentary, Cannon accused Spacey of having touched him inappropriately in London when he was 21 and the American star was 53.

The invitation to Cannes -- where Spacey has not been seen on the red carpet since 2016 -- comes as the main festival has been enforcing a new no-tolerance policy on sexual misconduct, under pressure from lawmakers and #MeToo anti-abuse activists.

Internet miffed at France

As news of Spacey’s honour at Cannes broke out, many on the internet expressed displeasure and anger, which was directed at France and Cannes more than at Spacey himself. One commenter wrote on Reddit- “I'm not surprised. The french have been sheltering Roman Polanski since he drugged and raped a child in the 70s.”

Polanski, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, has been in France for half a century after he was accused of raping a minor in the 70s.

Another Reddit user sarcastically added, “Wow, how very moral of you. Thank you so much for acknowledging Kevin Spacey’s crimes. I was worried he was culturally not condemned enough.”

One fan summed up France's confusing approach to the #MeToo movement and said “I love France is always like one step forward (prosecute Depardieu), two steps back (celebrate Spacey) when it comes to the #MeToo movement.”

#MeToo policy at Cannes Film Festival

Cannes -- once the hunting ground of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, whose arrest sparked the #MeToo movement -- has been dogged for years by claims that it was too soft on celebrity abusers.

This year's festival opened just as French screen legend Gerard Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended sentence for sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021.

With jury president, French actor Juliette Binoche, speaking out about harassment she experienced on set, Cannes has been swift to implement its new rules.

French actor Theo Navarro-Mussy -- who denies rape allegations made by three women against him -- was barred last week from the premiere of "Dossier 137", one of the films in the running for the Palme d'Or top prize.

The festival justified its decision by saying an appeal was under way.

And on Thursday, a vice president of the avant garde parallel film section at Cannes, ACID, was suspended after being publicly accused of sexual violence during an event.