U.S. actor Kevin Spacey and director Atom Egoyan were on hand to open the 21st Yerevan International Golden Apricot Film Festival. 

Spacey’s invitation has sparked controversy in Armenia since the two-time Oscar winner has been shunned by Hollywood since 2017 after facing allegations of sexual abuse, including children.

Spacey has denied the accusations and was found not liable in a 2022 lawsuit in New York. In a separate case in London, he was acquitted by a jury of sexual assault charges in 2023.

Defending Spacey’s invitation, Karen Avetisian, the festival’s artistic director, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service: “Golden Apricot is not a humanitarian organization but a film festival where we, being deeply convinced that it is a myth that a good artist is the same as a virtuous man, honor not the worthy, but the worthy artists, and we judge not the man but his art.”