Kevin Spacey vs The Telegraph

How to fight a bad headline

Last week The Telegraph ran a headline saying Spacey was now homeless, implying he couldn’t get work any more. Super embarrassing.

Today he responded with this video:

https://x.com/kevinspacey/status/1992692262690758703?s=46&t=OhZ5HVBZIcCcysHM91qoGA

I had to watch it several times. This kind of response is extremely hard to pull off and he handled it masterfully.

The reason it’s so hard is that being accused of insolvency is typically so humiliating that it feels undignified even to have to deny.

Spacey completely flipped the framing:

Instead of embarrassingly having to defend his solvency, he reversed the frame to speak from a position of high status. People have been so kind in offering him support that it would be dishonest to let them believe he actually needs the help!

He doesn’t treat the “homeless” label as an indignity to recover from, but as an instance of sloppy clickbait that won him undeserved sympathy.

In this framing, he’s graciously refusing to exploit the generosity of the many people misled by editors at The Telegraph (whom he makes look even more absurd by doing this via video showing a beautiful home in the background).

Key moments:

> “I don’t usually make it my business to correct the media; if I did I wouldn’t have time for much else...”

Starts with wry humor, to show he doesn’t take this too seriously and neither should you. By lumping all media inaccuracies together, he also casts doubt on other, way more damaging, news reports. Makes you wonder what else the media got wrong.

> “I feel the need to respond — not to the press, but to the thousands of people who have reached out…to all of you let me say I’m touched by your generosity. Full stop.”

He makes clear who his audience is and puts himself on the same side as them (momentarily to be united against The Telegraph).

> “It’s a shame The Telegraph chose to undermine the work of their own journalist by selling him out with a knowingly misleading headline for the sake of clicks.”

Pits the editors (dishonest) against the journalist (“wonderful”). He’s not offended on his own behalf, but standing up for the journalist. Also shows he’s not antagonistic toward all media.

> “I said I was living out of hotels…going where the work is, just as when I started out in this business. I’ve been working nearly nonstop for a year and for that I have so much to be grateful for.”

He’s obviously saying that he’s getting a lot of work and his career is as strong as ever, but framing it as gratitude instead of a rebuttal shows confidence and is more convincing.

> “There are many people who are indeed actually living on the streets or in their cars…and my heart goes out to them. But it is clear I am not one of them, nor was I attempting to say I was.”

This was particularly elegant. It’s hard to say “hey don’t call me that” without seeming to denigrate people who are “that.” The way Spacey frames it is that there’s no shame in financial hardship, but he simply wouldn’t want to accept sympathy for a struggle he hasn’t endured.

Lastly, note that format matters. This wouldn’t have been nearly as effective in writing. Video was the perfect format, given the “show don’t tell” home in the background and the fact that screen presence is his superpower.

Whatever else you might think about Kevin Spacey, it’s hard to watch this and walk away thinking he’s actually homeless.