Kevin Spacey To Be Feted In Italy With Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement

Kevin Spacey will be honored with the Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement at a special gala evening in the historic southern Italian town of Taormina in July.

The organizers said The Usual Suspects and American Beauty Oscar winner will also give a short on-stage performance at the event, taking place on July 21 in Taormina’s 4,000-seats Greek-roman Theatre.

The event, which is part of a program of cultural events running in the landmark ancient amphitheater across the summer, is not connected to the Taormina Film Festival, which runs from July 12 to 19.

The honor comes as Spacey continues to battle by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him, which he has denied.

He was found not guilty of sexual assault in key trials in the U.S. and UK in 2022 and 2023 respectively, but faces a fresh civil trial in the UK in 2025, brought by a man who says the actor sexually assaulted him, causing him “psychiatric damage” and “financial loss”.

Spacey has said in interviews that he may behaved inappropriately in the past, but denies that he behaving illegally.

Currently in its 18th edition the Nations Award, has previously feted Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, F. Murray Abraham, Gerard Depardieu, Ferzan Ozpetek, Daniel Brühl, Nicola Piovani, Abel Ferrara and Vittorio Storaro.

In 2023, the prize went to actor F. Murray Abraham, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus in 1985, and more recently appeared in the Taormina-set, second season of HBO anthology series The White Lotus.

The Nations Award is organized under the patronage of Italy’s Senate of the Republic and the Sicily Regio and directed by Michel Curatolo with the collaboration of the artist consultant Marco Fallanca.

“Kevin Spacey is a timeless monument in film and theater history, who unquestionably deserves the chance to get his career back,” said Curatolo and Fallanca.

“Taormina is one of Italy’s oldest movie celebrations and it is a true privilege to witness a taste of a performance by one of the acting greats of our time. Both his audience and the industry miss his boundless talent every single day and we are extremely proud to stand with such an unparalleled artist”.