Kevin Spacey compares his downfall to people struggling in pandemic in newly surfaced video

Actor said he had to ask himself ‘who am I?’ after his ‘world completely changed’

Kevin Spacey has compared his downfall in the wake of sexual assault allegations made against him to the experience of people who are struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Multiple men have accused Spacey of sexual assault dating back to the 1980s. In January, a sexual assault lawsuit against the House of Cards star was settled after the anonymous massage therapist who accused him died unexpectedly.

Last summer, prosecutors in Massachusetts dropped another criminal case against Spacey, which came after he was accused of groping an 18-year-old busboy at a Nantucket bar in 2016. It was ultimately dropped “due to the unavailability of the complaining witness”.

The actor has also been questioned by Metropolitan Police detectives about sexual assault allegations in the UK.

Spacey has denied all allegations of abuse.

In a newly surfaced video that Spacey recorded for Germany’s Bits & Pretzels conference at the end of March, Spacey said: “My world completely changed in the fall of 2017. My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in a matter of hours…

“While we have found ourselves in similar situations, albeit for different reasons, I believe some of the emotional struggles are very much the same.

“I have empathy for what it feels like to suddenly be told you can’t go back to work or you might lose your job and, it’s a situation you have absolutely no control over.”

Talking about how he felt after the allegations came to light, Spacey said: “I was so busy defining myself by what I did or what I was trying to do that when it all stopped I had no idea what to do then,” he said. “All I ever knew was how to act… I did it my whole life.

“When my career came to a grinding, screeching halt and I was faced with the uncertainty I might never be hired as an actor again, I had to ask myself if, ‘If I can’t act, who am I? I only valued and defined myself through work, that’s who I was. If that wasn’t going to be a possibility anymore then who am I? If all I’m left with is just me?’”

He continued: “It’s not something I ever thought I’d have to contemplate. So this is some of the work I’ve been trying to do. While I don’t want to sugarcoat this devastating time we’re in, I’m hoping I can encourage you to see an opportunity in all of this and turn this into a positive…

“As bleak and horrible as things can look, as they did for me two years ago, it will get better.”

He added that since his downfall, he has “delved into issues I’d long avoided, faced truths I’d kept hidden and confronted traumas I’d always denied”.

“I hope you, too, can discover – as painful as these moments are – a new part of you that has been begging to be heard,” he said.

“If I didn’t have someone checking in on me every day I’m not sure how I could have got through the first day let alone this day…

“When you stop and explore the personal, the spiritual, your health, your relationships, the changes can be real and the rewards will keep coming. Even though we do want to conduct ourselves with appropriate social distancing, we can still be kind because kindness at any distance brings us closer. Begin by being kind to yourself, it might be the hardest place to start, it certainly was for me.”