Prosecution concludes case in trial of Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey
Southwark Crown Court has heard from four alleged victims since the trial began last month.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Prosecutors have concluded their case against Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey over alleged sex offences.
The Hollywood star, standing trial under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, was labelled a “sexual bully” when proceedings began last month.
The 63-year-old denies charges including sexual assault and indecent assault, which are alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
Over the course of the trial at Southwark Crown Court, each of Spacey’s four accusers have given evidence – variously describing him as a “vile sexual predator”, “slippery” and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”.
One complainant, who alleges the actor “aggressively” grabbed his crotch while he drove him to a lavish showbiz party in the early 2000s, described Spacey’s behaviour as “like he thought he could he could groom me”.
Jurors also heard Spacey allegedly grabbed another man’s crotch “like a cobra” after meeting him at a West End theatre in the mid-2000s following an alleged “barrage of vile comments”.
The House Of Cards and American Beauty star is also accused of having had a “panicked” look on his face after a third man rejected an alleged sexual grab at an expensive property he was staying at in the Cotswolds in the early 2010s.
On Monday, an aspiring actor told the court of an incident in the late 2000s where “things went further” – claiming Spacey had “drugged” him before waking up to find the defendant performing a sex act on him.
The man’s police interview was played to jurors, where he told an officer he had written to the two-time Oscar winner asking for “mentorship”, but ended up breaking down as he described the alleged assault.
Throughout the trial, Spacey’s alleged victims have spoken of how it was “well known” in the theatre world that he was “up to no good”, with one allegedly warned that the actor liked “young straight men”.
One complainant accused the Hollywood star of being “insensitive” – claiming the defendant’s decision to come out as gay was used to “disguise” his alleged sexual misconduct.
Under questioning from Spacey’s lawyer, Patrick Gibbs KC, the men all denied either seeking financial gain, attempting to further their career or giving false accounts to the jury.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Shauna Ritchie said the defendant had told police he was “baffled” and “deeply hurt” by the claims made by the man who accuses him of assaulting him in a car.
He told officers he did not recognise the alleged victim he met in a West End theatre, or the aspiring actor who said he woke up to Spacey performing a sex act on him.
Addressing the claims made by the latter, he told police he would “never” have performed a sex act on anyone without their consent.
He added: “I have had a number of consensual one-night stands with many members of the theatre world in my property.”
The actor said he may have made a “clumsy pass” at his final alleged victim but denied deliberately attacking him.
Spacey pleaded not guilty in January to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
The two-time Academy Award winner also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The trial continues.