US actor Kevin Spacey made his first public appearance after a sexual harassment case against him was dropped, Fox News reported Saturday.
The actor appeared at the National Roman Museum in Rome, Italy, the report said. Standing next to a bronze statue of a battered fighter, he recited a poem “The Boxer” by Italian poet Gabriele Tinti. The poem focuses on a worn-out fighter left bleeding at ringside remembering his former glory.
“I shook the country, made the arenas vibrate, tore my opponents to shreds,” Spacey read to a small crowd, according to the Fox. “I lit up the darkness, collected insults, compelled applause. Not everyone knew how to do this. None of you. On the other hand, life is not frightening for those who have never taken a risk.”
Spacey’s team reportedly informed the media of the impromptu appearance. A Daily Beast correspondent who witnessed the performance called it “unapologetic.”
“As his voice rang out in front of no more than 50 surprised museum goers and selected guests, it was clear that, while he may have fallen from grace for the alleged sexual assaults, he did not feel any apparent remorse,” she wrote.
Tinti, the author of the poem, denied that it was written with Spacey in mind, a Variety report said. However, the poet tweeted that he enjoyed the ad-hoc performance.
“What a wonderful night! Everyone was so happy to celebrate art, it was an honor to have Kevin Spacey reading my poems, Rome loves you!” he tweeted.
Earlier this month, Massachusetts prosecutors dropped charges against Spacey “due to unavailability of the complaining witness.” The charges alleged that the actor groped a young man in 2016. However, the accuser refused to testify against Spacey and failed to provide a mobile phone that supposedly contained video evidence of the incident.
A winner of two Academy Awards, and known for his television performance as the US president in the House of Cards series, Spacey has repeatedly denied the accusations.