Terry Prone: Can we humbly ask that you stop telling us you don’t do small talk?

Actor Kevin Spacey was “humbled” by the outcome of his sexual abuse trial in London. Speaking outside Southwark Crown Court, was he really admitting to having his reputation denigrated and damaged?

He stood outside the court, looking relieved, and delivered a neatly prepared statement without reading from a script. Kevin Spacey even looked behind him at one point to make sure that named members of his legal team got credit for the work they had done. In addition, he specifically thanked the security and other staff inside the court for the care they had taken of him during the course of his trial. He was clear and decisive. When he said he wasn’t going to say anything more, it didn’t matter how many questions were shouted at him by the bank of journalists he was leaving behind him. Not one of them was going to be answered. It was elegant and effective. With one exception.

That exception was the point where he announced that he was humbled. Here’s a man who for more than a decade was in charge of the Old Vic Theatre, which stages the works of the great English dramatists. Here’s a man who himself has played many of the great roles in that corpus, including Richard III.