Kevin Spacey’s Emotional Return to Cannes: 'I'm Still Standing'

“House of Cards” star Kevin Spacey is back at the Cannes Film Festival after 10 years.

Spacey was honored at Better World Fund’s gala during the festival, where his movie “The Awakening” is currently being shopped.

While accepting a lifetime achievement award, Spacey referenced Elton John’s hit song “I’m Still Standing.”

He said, “As my friend Elton John once said, and the reason that this means so much to me, is because I’m still standing, I’m still standing.”

In 2023, Spacey was acquitted of multiple sexual assault charges in a high-profile U.K. case. The year before, he was found not liable in a sexual assault case brought by Anthony Rapp.

During his 10-minute speech, Kevin acknowledged the trying times, saying that he has “come out the other side of these last few challenging years not angry, not bitter, not resentful, but more present, more loving, more understanding and more forgiving than I ever have been in my life."

Kevin praised Better World Fun for their risky decision to invite him to the event, saying, “Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every single courtroom he’s ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea?”

Spacey referenced the late Kirk Douglas’ past support of Blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo. He told the crowd, “Kirk Douglas took the risk and would later say: It’s easy for us actors to play the hero on screen, we get to fight the bad guys and stand up for justice, but in real life, the choices are not always so clear. There are times when one has to stand up for principle. I have learned a lot from history. It very often repeats itself. The blacklist was a terrible time in our industry, but we must learn from it so that it never happens again.”

“And today we find ourselves once again at the intersection of uncertainty and fear in the film business and beyond,” Kevin emphasized.

Earlier this year, Spacey was faced with another civil sexual abuse lawsuit that was filed in London.