For the second time in less than one year, Kevin Spacey is facing a jury over sexual misconduct allegations, with a trial in his U.K. criminal case starting in earnest Friday, June 30. The fallen American Beauty star, who was cleared in a civil sexual misconduct case in October 2022, is on trial in London for sexual assault charges involving four men. During opening arguments on June 30, the prosecution claimed that Spacey “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable,†according to The New York Times. When accusers’ testimony started the week of July 3, they portrayed Spacey as an unrepentant predator — with one man saying he was “like a cobra†during an alleged assault, the BBC said.
The prosecutor, Christine Agnew, told jurors that Spacey is “a man who sexually assaults other men. A man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable —a sexual bully,†The Guardian reported. Agnew said “his preferred method of assault is, it appears, to grab aggressively other men in the crotch. On one occasion things went further than that.†Spacey has denied the allegations — and on Thursday, July 13, 2023, he took the stand to defend himself. Below, the events of the trial, which promises still more bombshell testimony.
Which charges does Kevin Spacey face in London?
Spacey faces 12 counts. They include seven sexual-assault counts and three indecent-assault counts. He faces one count each of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent, per The Guardian. The counts relate to four men for alleged incidents between 2001 and 2013. Spacey lived in London when he worked as artistic director of the famed Old Vic Theatre from 2003 to 2015.
So what are the specific allegations against Spacey?
In a 90-minute opening argument, the prosecution laid out accusers’ claims against Spacey. One accuser claimed that before the alleged assaults unfolded, Spacey would speak “openly about his sexuality,†making him uncomfortable. As time went on, the accuser said, Spacey started to touch him inappropriately, and these encounters became “more intense.†There were eventually times that Spacey would grab and grope in an aggressive way, the BBC reported. The prosecution claimed that Spacey derived a “sexual thrill out of this type of sexual aggression.â€
The second accuser told authorities that Spacey had “simply laughed†when he’d pushed the actor away at a 2005 work function after Spacey allegedly grabbed him so strongly that “it was painful,†according to the BBC.
The third accuser said he first encountered Spacey at the Old Vic and asked him for mentorship. Once, after drinking at a bar, they went back to Spacey’s home. The accuser said that he woke up and found Spacey engaging in a sex act on him, the prosecution reportedly stated.
Finally, the fourth accuser said he’d met Spacey at a pub in 2013. The man, who worked at the pub, ran into him later that evening at another bar, where he’d had told Spacey he was headed. At this bar, the man alleges, Spacey touched the man’s leg over and over. When a group returned to Spacey’s home that evening, the actor allegedly told the man to “be cool†when Spacey tried to kiss his neck. Then, when Spacey and the man were by themselves in a room, Spacey allegedly grabbed this man’s crotch, BBC reported the prosecution as saying.
Did Spacey’s lawyer say anything in court?
Yes. In what the BBC described as a “short†opening statement, defense lawyer Patrick Gibbs said the accusations were from a “long time ago†and “reimagined with a sinister spin,†further describing the claims as “made up or twisted.†According to the BBC, Gibbs questioned the accusers’ motives and said, “​​You will hear many damned lies.â€
Does this have anything to do with Spacey’s New York trial in fall 2022?
No. Spacey’s sexual-misconduct trial in Manhattan federal court was a civil proceeding involving actor Anthony Rapp’s allegations against Spacey. Rapp had claimed that Spacey made an aggressive, unwanted sexual advance in 1986, when Rapp was only 14. (Spacey would have been about 26 at that time.) Rapp alleged that he’d met Spacey when the then-teen was acting in the Broadway play Precious Sons. Rapp claimed that he went to Spacey’s apartment for a party, during which Spacey allegedly climbed on top of him. “I was frozen. I was pinned underneath him,†Rapp told jurors. “I didn’t really know what to do.â€Â Rapp lost his case. The jury took less than an hour to find Spacey not liable.
Didn’t things get really weird at the Rapp trial?
Indeed. Within a few minutes of Spacey’s testimony, he gave an Oscar-worthy performance describing a childhood rife with trauma. “I grew up in a very complicated family dynamic,†Spacey told jurors. “My father was unemployed a great deal at the time, so therefore he was home a lot of the time … My father was a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi.†(Spacey’s lawyer also got COVID-19.) So far in this trial, Spacey doesn’t appear to be super-worried. When he arrived at court on June 28, he seemed in good spirits and wished people “good morning,†the Independent reported. The Guardian said that he “smiled†when he got to court.
What did Spacey’s accusers say in their testimony during week two?
The accusers’ testimony appears to support allegations of longtime predatory behavior by Spacey. One accuser, whose name isn’t being disclosed for legal reasons, alleged that Spacey groomed him and described the actor as a “very slippery, snaky, difficult person†in an interview with police, The Guardian reported. The man alleged that Spacey tried luring him into unwanted sexual encounters by promising him entrée into Hollywood circless. During one of the accuser’s most striking moments in his police interview, which was played for jurors, the man said that he was driving him to a party at Elton John’s home when Spacey grabbed his penis so forcefully it almost caused an accident, the newspaper said.
The accuser also claimed that Spacey’s alleged misconduct was an open secret at the Old Vic theater — so much so that “it used to be a laughing joke about what was going on there,†according to The Guardian. “It was well known that he [Spacey] was up to no good,†he said. The accuser said he had severed ties with Spacey after the alleged car incident. “He grabbed me so hard I almost came off the road. He grabbed me really hard and it really hurt. I pushed him against the door and said, ‘Don’t do that again or I will knock you out,’†the man recalled. Spacey allegedly laughed and replied, “That’s such a turn-on to me.â€
The man claimed in his police interview that Spacey groped him “a good dozen times†in the early aughts. The accuser said Spacey seemed to think he could groom him using praise and gifts, including front-row seats to shows and dinners for him and his girlfriend. “That’s what they do, try to reel you in: ‘I’ll give them that and they won’t say anything.’†The man also said, “Every time we became alone over the years, on multiple occasions, he would try and grope me, grab me, and make me feel very, very uncomfortable.â€
Another accuser claimed that Spacey groped him after he helped with his dog. In a police interview shown to jurors, the accuser said that Spacey walked into a bar where he worked with a small dog in tow, per the BBC. Spacey took a seat and introduced himself; the man said there wasn’t much to do in the area and said he was going to another bar after work. Spacey allegedly said, “Cool, I might see you down there.†When the accuser arrived at the other pub, he alleged Spacey called out to him. At some point, the accuser went looking for his jacket in a closet, and recalled a “little dog†running between his legs. The accuser told police that he picked up the dog and brought him back to the bar area. Then, the man alleged, Spacey approached him and “we did an awkward man-hug … he hugged me, I did a sort of pat on the back type of thing. At that point he kissed my neck twice and grabbed my crotch. He said the words ‘Be cool, be cool’ twice,’†the man told police. “I put my arm between us and pushed him against a wall. I said, ‘I am sorry, I don’t bat for that team.’†Spacey looked “panicked†and left, he said. Spacey maintains his innocence of the charges. His trial is expected to last one month.
What did Spacey testify?
Spacey emphatically denied engaging in sexual misconduct against any of his accusers and characterized himself as a victim of vindictive behavior. He told the court that he considered his relationship with one of the accusers to be consensual and “somewhat intimate,†CBS News reported. Their relationship was flirtatious and “developed over time,†Spacey reportedly claimed. “We enjoyed each other’s company,†Spacey said, claiming he “would have taken the lead.†Spacey testified that he had physically touched this man in “intimate†places; he claims there was consensual sexual activity but insisted he never engaged in any forcible behavior. “It did not happen in a violent, aggressive, painful way … it was gentle and, in my mind, romantic,†Spacey testified, per CBS News. “It was not what he has described.â€
Spacey also insisted that he didn’t grope a man while he was driving to a party at Elton John’s home. The extent of their sexual interaction was touching because, Spacey said, “he didn’t want to go further than we were going, and I respected that.†As for when he heard this accuser’s allegations, Spacey described feeling “crushed†and didn’t think this man would “stab me in the back.â€
This is a developing story and has been updated with additional reporting and information.