Kevin Spacey experienced an “unexpected” medical emergency while attending the 15th Tashkent International Film Festival in Uzbekistan earlier this week.
The 64-year-old actor was taken to the Innova Diagnostic Clinic in the city for heart attack symptoms, but after undergoing a series of tests — including an MRI — he was given the all-clear by doctors, according to The Sun, who first reported the news.
In a video posted on the film festival’s official Instagram page, Spacey shared the story while giving a speech onstage at the festival on Monday, telling the crowd his health was “normal” and the health scare made him “really take a moment and think about how fragile life is — for all of us.”
Spacey recounted how he fell ill in the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand while on a tour of the Afrasiyab Museum. “I experienced something here today that was unexpected. I was looking at these extraordinary murals on the walls, and I suddenly felt my entire left arm go numb for about eight seconds,” he recalled. “I shook it off, but I immediately told the people I was with, and we went immediately to the […] medical center.”
“I spent the afternoon there having a variety of tests. Staff took care of me, and even put me through an MRI,” he added. “Everything turned out to be completely normal, and I’m grateful it’s not anything more serious.”
Spacey said the health scare made him realize how important it is for people to come together and “do what we can for the next generation.”
He then teased a self-described “comeback,” telling the crowd that his “best roles” were ahead of him.
ET has reached out to the Tashkent International Film Festival for further comment.
Spacey’s appearance at the film festival comes over two months after he was found not guilty of all the sexual assault charges he was facing in a U.K. trial. He faced nine sexual offense charges related to incidents reported by four men that allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013.
All four of the alleged victims — who can’t be named under U.K. law — testified during the trial, as did Spacey himself, who said he was crushed by the allegations. The actor had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
In their testimony, the four men described Spacey as a “sexual bully” and a predator.
Spacey starred in the Netflix series House of Cards until he was fired in 2017 after fellow actor Anthony Rapp accused him of prior sexual misconduct. A jury in Massachusetts later found him not liable for those allegations.
Earlier this month, Spacey’s friend, Geoffrey Mark, told The Daily Mail that the actor was ready to “rebuild” his career after being cleared of sexually assaulting four men by a London court. “He needs to get his career back, because we’re missing out on all the wonderful performances he’s still got left in him,” Mark told the outlet. “So let’s leave all this nonsense behind.”
A few weeks after that interview, on Sept. 29, a massage therapist accused Spacey of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit, claiming the actor became “visibly sexually aroused” during massages and pressured him to perform sexual acts.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the massage therapist claims Spacey used fake names to book three appointments with him at the New York Edition Hotel in 2016, during which the actor allegedly insisted on wearing a ski mask.
The suit claims that during the appointments, Spacey attempted to place the masseur’s hand on his genitals, commented on his looks, and offered him extra money for sexual favors. It also alleges that Spacey “insisted” on starting the massage with an emphasis on his butt and on performing yoga poses that exposed his genitals.
At the end of the sessions, the massage therapist claims Spacey would tip him in cash and bow to him, “with the implication that it was for his discretion.”
After the third alleged incident, the masseuse says he stopped taking appointments at the hotel Spacey allegedly frequented altogether.
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