Kevin Spacey played to a crowd of hundreds in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night as part of an attempted comeback tour, but his show got off to a rocky start when, he said, a fan tried to take a selfie with him as he was about to take the stage.
“Don’t ever f**k up an entrance like that ever again,” the actor said.
Spacey settled in after that, appearing to charm an audience of Israeli fans who had come to see his one-man show, “Songs & Stories,” in the Tel Aviv Port’s Hangar 11.
Dressed in a dark suit and bow tie, eminently comfortable at the microphone, Spacey sang jazzy favorites and oldies in a slightly hoarse voice, alternating tunes with stories from his childhood and years of acting.
“I’m so excited to be back in Israel,” said Spacey.
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The show opened with a video vignette of his famed film moments — from “The Usual Suspects,” “American Beauty” and others — including when Spacey won one of his two Academy Awards.
But the shadow of the past eight years hovered over the night. Beginning in 2017, Spacey was accused by dozens of men of sexual misconduct of varying degrees, and multiple legal cases were filed against him. After two acquittals in major court cases, Spacey is now attempting to revive his career, which had come to an abrupt halt.
This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Spacey in a scene from ‘House Of Cards.’ (David Giesbrecht/Netflix via AP)
Spacey joked about the cancellation, recalling being fired from Netflix’s “House of Cards,” the acclaimed political drama that he headlined, and not being legally allowed to mention the characters’ names from the show. (After the accusations surfaced, he was ordered to pay some $30 million in damages to the streaming giant.)
“I don’t want to say anything too controversial, but I have to be honest, it’s beginning to look like I won’t get to do the last season of ‘House of Cards,’” he said on Wednesday, to weak laughter from the audience.
The Tel Aviv show was meant to be one stop of three in a modest tour of the eastern Mediterranean, with additional shows in Cyprus and Greece — what he called “getting our feet wet in a city that’s not London or New York,” according to the UK’s Telegraph.
Actor Kevin Spacey addresses the media after being cleared of nine sex offenses, outside Southwark Crown Court in London, July 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
But even that lineup hit obstacles. The event organizers in Greece, which has seen a series of anti-Israel protests, pressured him to cancel the Tel Aviv show in protest of the Gaza war.
Instead, he canceled his appearance in Greece.
“We don’t respond well to ultimatums,” Spacey said to Channel 12. “And I don’t believe in punishing the citizens of a country for what’s happening within their country. We simply don’t respond well to that — so instead of canceling Israel, we canceled the other city.”
Spacey told Channel 12 that he has always felt an affinity for Israel and saw echoes of the boycott calls in his own experiences of being shunned as he tries to make a return to public life.
The other show, in Limassol, took place on November 15.
US actor Kevin Spacey attends the red carpet for the movie ‘Father Mother Sister Brother,’ presented in competition at the 82nd International Venice Film Festival, at Venice Lido on August 31, 2025. (Tiziana FABI / AFP)
Occasionally sipping from a cup of tea — and then asking for and receiving a glass of Jack Daniels — Spacey sang classic tunes, along with some Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel and Frank Sinatra favorites, accompanied by a five-piece band made up of American, European and Israeli musicians.
He tap danced for a few moments at one point, stopping to catch his breath afterwards.
The audience, which included many Russian-speaking Israelis, was full of applause and appreciation for Spacey.
For most of the 90-minute show, Spacey sang and told stories about wanting to be an actor from the age of eight, his mother’s belief in him, and how she used a Heinz ketchup bottle as a prop to show him how to hold his future Oscar.
He showed images of himself as a little boy and with his mother, a clip of him appearing on “Saturday Night Live,” and snapshots with friends from the stage and screen.
Evan Lowenstein, from left, Kevin Spacey and Lucie Lowenstein pose for photographers on the red carpet for the film ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Photo by Alessandra Tarantino/Invision/AP)
He spoke about his first trip to Israel with Jack Lemmon, in 1986, to perform the play “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” at Tel Aviv’s Habima Theater.
The actor returned to Israel last December 2024 with pro-Israel British pundit Douglas Murray.
Both men are managed by Evan Lowenstein, formerly of the ’90s boyband Evan and Jaron, a singer-turned-manager who was raised in an observant Jewish family. Lowenstein, whom Spacey called “a mensch,” has been a constant presence during the actor’s high-profile court cases and public appearances.
Spacey shared that Lowenstein’s daughter, Ayla Lowenstein, became a lone soldier in Israel before October 7, 2023, and he visited her during his 2024 trip, in addition to making trips to sites of the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, including the location of the Nova music festival and Kibbutz Nir Oz. He also visited with bereaved families.
He said on Wednesday that he had been moved by the clarity, honesty and strength shown by the families despite having experienced unspeakable horrors. He commented that “the resilience of the Israeli people is nothing short of infectious.”
Spacey also said his favorite, and only, Hebrew phrase was “ein baayot,” meaning, “No problems.”
“The best is yet to come for your country,” said Spacey.
This image released by Netflix shows Kevin Spacey in a scene from “House Of Cards.” Netflix says it’s suspending production on “House of Cards” following harassment allegations against Spacey. (David Giesbrecht/Netflix via AP)
During the Tel Aviv performance, Spacey talked about his dog, Boston, rescued when he visited Boston following the 2013 bombing at that city’s marathon. He spoke about his high school friend, the late actor Val Kilmer, who he said always supported him, even when he was shunned by many others.
He thanked the audience, noting that the last chapter of his life has been filled with challenges but has revealed who and what is important to him, including the many fans who tell him they support him.
“For the last eight years, the media has had their mic on full blast,” said Spacey. “But now I’ve got the mic and the stage.”
The crowd applauded.
