Throughout his acceptance speech, Spacey referenced his banishment from Hollywood, a point that didn’t go unnoticed by attendees.
“Who would have ever thought that honoring someone who has been exonerated in every courtroom he’s ever walked into would be thought of as a brave idea. But here we are,” he quipped, shedding light on the current climate of the industry.
Spacey went on to compare himself to Dalton Trumbo, the famed screenwriter blacklisted during the McCarthy era.
“It was a long, long time ago, but we have to think about the pushback that [Kirk Douglas] received after he made the brave decision to stand up for fellow colleague, two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo — He couldn’t find work in Hollywood for 13 years. But even after he was warned if he tried to hire Trumbo as the credited screenwriter for Spartacus in 1960, he’d be called a Commie lover, and his career and professional status would be canceled,” the actor told gala attendees. “There are times when one has to stand up for principle.”
“I’ve learned a lot from history — it often repeats itself,” he continued. “The blacklist was a terrible time in our history so that it never happens again.”