Cool! Kevin Spacey Is Getting a Lifetime Achievement Award in Cannes

While the gala is not technically affiliated with the festival, Spacey’s presence in Cannes to receive the award at the same time the festival is taking place is all part of a larger plan to capitalize upon the event’s heavy press to promote his forthcoming film, The Awakening. Notably, the awards are held at the Carlton hotel, which just happens to be “one of the premiere sites of festival activity.”

“The guy that runs [the gala] is a big fan of Kevin and I just said, ‘Look, here’s a crazy idea: if I asked him to come, what can you do for him?’ So it kind of happened organically,” Matt Hookings, a producer of The Awakening, told Variety of the “guerrilla marketing” stunt. “A lot of people really like him, so you’ll have a lot of people going, ‘This is really cool.’ And then you’ll have some people that’ll be like, ‘What the fuck is he doing here?’ But hopefully the people who say, ‘What the fuck is he doing,’ when they realize why he’s here they’ll give him a second chance.” Sick strategy, guys!

This is the second Lifetime Achievement award Spacey has received since he was found not guilty on seven counts of sexual assault in London and acquitted of sexual assault in New York. In July 2024, Spacey was given Italy’s Nations Award for Lifetime Achievement at a special gala in Taormina.

“Kevin Spacey is a timeless monument in film and theater history, who unquestionably deserves the chance to get his career back,” organizers said at the time. Huh. It’s almost like everybody simply forgot that a few short years ago, Spacey was accused of various sexual offenses by four men in the U.K., and Anthony Rapp, who claimed that Spacey had sexually abused him when Rapp was a teenager in New York.

I’m sure another Oscar is imminent!