At the peak of his career, Kevin Spacey was worth almost £60million with a property empire spanning the US and London, but now the disgraced Hollywood actor is on the brink of bankruptcy due to his million-dollar legal fees
Spacey broke down in tears when talking to Piers Morgan Uncensored about what his life has been like after he was charged with indecent assault against four men in 2018.
The 64-year-old, who was cleared of nine sexual assault charges last July, said he was ‘not quite sure where he was going to live’ as his £4.7million home was being sold at auction this week.
He also admitted to being ‘handsy’ and ‘pushing boundaries’ when asked about his alleged bad behaviour and said he’s spoken to a ‘significant’ number of men to personally apologise for his former conduct.
The House of Cards star was one of the most recognised faces in Hollywood until allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Spacey had a net worth of $70million back in 2022 – around £58.5million – making his money in acting, film directing, producing, screenwriting and singing.
Spacey rose to fame with his portrayal of Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint in the 1996 hit The Usual Suspects – which won him his first Academy Award, as a supporting actor.
He founded his own production company, Trigger Street Productions, in 1997 and won his second Oscar, this time as Best Actor, for 1999’s American Beauty.
It is estimated that at his absolute career peak in the early 2000s, Kevin could easily earn as much as £7.5million to star in a major film and almost £4million for a supporting role.
But his world has been turned upside down since he was accused of abusing his fame and power to carry out nine sex attacks on four men during his tenure as artistic director of the Old Vic theatre.
Asked where he is living now and if he is going to file for bankruptcy, the former House of Cards star told Morgan: ‘This week, where I have been living in Baltimore, is being foreclosed on.
‘My house is being sold at auction. I’m not quite sure where I’m going to live now, but I have been in Baltimore since we started shooting House of Cards there.
‘It’s been a couple of times when I thought I was going to file, but we’ve managed to sort of dodge it, at least as of today.
‘I still owe a lot of legal bills that I have not been able to pay. Many millions, yes. The house itself is many millions.’
Spacey’s Baltimore home is expected to attract bids of more than $5.6million (£4.3million) when it goes under the hammer.
The 9,000 sq ft home located in the city’s Inner Harbour seaport was secretly lived in by Spacey while he was filming the Netflix hit House of Cards, with its ownership listed under Clear Toaster LLC.
The sprawling riverside property was listed for sale after the actor fell behind on mortgage payments in the wake of his sexual misconduct scandal.
While compact, the five-level home boasts six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and a private spot in Baltimore’s historic seaport.
Spacey had also previously owned a 1920s-era Tudor-style home in LA and pocketed $11million (£9million) from the sale in 2017 – having reportedly paid $2.1 million (£1.6million) for the property.
The 6,600-square-foot house, which comprises five bedrooms and four bathrooms, sits on about an acre of land on the western edge of Los Feliz,
The Hollywood star also owned the property next door, which he picked up for just under $2million (£1.5million) in 2001 and sold for $3.5million (£2.7million) in 2010.
Across the pond, Spacey owned a £2.3million luxury apartment in London, which he bought in 2009 whilst he was artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre.
The 2,547sq foot, three-bedroom apartment offered him views of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye and was put up for sale in 2017 in the wake of the allegations.
Spacey is said to have hosted parties at the home during his time as artistic director of the Old Vic and renovated the apartment to suit his bachelor life style. He reportedly splashed out on lavish furniture and theatrical artefacts, installing his own private art collection.
Spacey also owned a three-bedroom, two-bathroom penthouse above a shop on Harrison Street in New York.
The 2,300 sq ft flat had its cut price from $5 million to $4.67 million in 2008, but was removed from listings when news broke that it was up for sale. It has not appeared on the market since.
Outside of property, Spacey also owned a luxury Mercedes-Benz S-Class S 560 – worth at least £130,000.
The vehicle contained plush, heated, leathered seats and powerful twin-turbocharged V8 engine that can reach zero to 60 mph in a jaw-dropping 4.5 seconds.
Spacey also earned plaudits for his role in the Netflix hit House of Cards from 2013 to 2017, a show in which he made $20 million per season as an actor and executive producer.
Following the allegations of sexual assault against him, which Spacey insisted were ‘madness’, the streaming giant cut ties with the actor completely.
In 2020, Spacey was ordered to pay $31million (£25.9million) to the House of Cards’ production company, Media Rights Capital (MRC), after it was revealed that he allegedly acted inappropriately towards someone on the set of the show.
When asked by Morgan about what he considered bad behaviour, Spacey said: ‘Pushing the boundaries.
‘Being too handsy, touching someone sexually in a way that I didn’t know at the time they didn’t want. I personally, I have caressed people, I have been gentle with people, that is the way that I am.
‘You’re making a pass at someone, you don’t want to be aggressive. You want to be gentle. You want to see if they’re going to respond positively.
‘I am absolutely 150 per cent prepared to take accountability for those things that I did and the mistakes that I made. ‘Bad, bad, bad behaviour sometimes.’
In February 2024, MRC agreed to forgive the debt in exchange for Spacey’s testimony on the production company’s behalf in a separate $150 million lawsuit, which has not yet gone to trial.
Spacey is also likely to stand trial again in early 2025 in the UK over a lawsuit by another man claiming the actor sexually assaulted him. Spacey has denied all allegations.
The trial was a result of Spacey’s barristers successfully challenging a verdict against their client after the actor.
In a statement to Deadline News, Spacey said: ‘This is not a new lawsuit. As has been widely reported, it’s the same lawsuit brought in 2022 by a complainant that was not believed by a jury of my peers in the 2023 UK criminal trial, in which I was acquitted.’