Classic Reissue: Kevin Spacey and That Elephant in the Room

Before he was exiled for multiple allegations of abuse, Kevin Spacey tiptoed around his sexuality and the press got messy about it.

As the Cannes Film Festival begins to wind down, I’m reminded of how the most prestigious festival in the world of cinema has a tedious reputation for greeting accused abusers with open arms. Shia LaBeouf and James Franco both made red carpet appearances this year. I was surprised not to see Kevin Spacey there, to be honest, especially since he’s in the midst of a clean-up campaign to return to the forefront of the entertainment world. He’s got the likes of Sharon Stone and Stephen Fry in his corner proclaiming that he must be given the right to go back to Hollywood and have the career he was celebrated for before being accused multiple times of sexual misconduct and assault.

This narrative is nothing new, and I’ll probably write about it more in the coming weeks. So, it felt like a good time to reshare this old Gossip Reading Club issue.

Esquire. “Kevin Spacey Has a Secret.” October 1, 1997. Tom Junod.

(Read the profile here.)

This piece was originally published in 2022.

At the 2017 Tony Awards, Kevin Spacey hosted the event and performed an opening monologue where he sang the line “I’m coming out.” There was a pause, wherein you could hear the audience waiting for the follow-up, then he said, “Wait, no, wait.” The crowd erupted into laughter. Hardly the subtlest joke but it was a familiar one for those who had followed Spacey’s career over the previous couple of decades. We get it. Spacey is gay but not officially ‘out’, and him toeing that line is part of the charm. Jodie Foster did it too, when she got ready to make a big announcement during a Golden Globes speech, only to say, “I am… single.” Everyone knew what was going on and was in on the fun. Then, several months later, Spacey was accused of attempted sexual assault of a minor. To try and deflect from a very serious accusation, Spacey issued a statement where he officially came out as gay, therefore implicitly drawing a connection between his sexuality and attacking a child. It didn’t go down well. Of course, there were a couple of elephants in the room at the time. Everyone knew that Spacey was gay, yes, but we also knew about the other rumors…