Kevin Spacey: What is happening in his London sex offences trial?

LONDON, (Reuters): Actor Kevin Spacey is on trial at a London court accused of nine historical sex offence charges against four men. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Here are some details about the case and the trial.

WHO IS KEVIN SPACEY?

Spacey, 63, has appeared in numerous Hollywood movies and won Oscars for best actor in “American Beauty” (1999) and best supporting actor in “The Usual Suspects” (1995). More recently he starred in the TV drama series “House of Cards”. He was artistic director at London’s Old Vic theatre from 2004 to 2015.

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES AGAINST HIM?

The charges include sexual assaults against four men, as well as a more serious offence of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent in relation to one of them.

The offences allegedly took place between 2004 and 2013 at a time when Spacey was mainly living in Britain. Spacey could face jail if convicted.

WHO ARE THE COMPLAINANTS

The first was a driver, aged in his early 30s at the time, who said Spacey had grabbed and groped him in an aggressive way, and forced the driver’s hand onto Spacey’s genitalia.

In one incident, the man said Spacey grabbed him so hard while he was driving that he almost drove off the road while en route to a party at the home of singer Elton John, who testified during the trial to establish the date.

The second complainant said he met Spacey while working in a pub near Oxford in central England, had drinks with Spacey at another pub with a group, and then went back to a house where Spacey was staying. There, he said Spacey kissed his neck and assaulted him by grabbing his crotch.

The third accuser said Spacey assaulted him at a charity event at a London theatre, where the actor, arriving smelling of alcohol and looking dishevelled, subjected him to a tirade of lewd remarks. He said he was showing Spacey around backstage when the actor spun him round and painfully grabbed his crotch like “a cobra”.

The most serious accusation against Spacey was made by the fourth complainant, an aspiring actor. He said he wrote to Spacey asking for assistance with his career and met Spacey for a drink a few weeks later.

The Hollywood star invited him back to his apartment, sexually assaulted him and performed oral sex on him while he was passed out. The accuser told the court that he believed Spacey might have drugged him.

WHAT DOES SPACEY SAY?

Spacey, who gave evidence in his own defence, said he was “crushed” by the allegations. He spoke of how his “world exploded” and his career effectively ended when he was accused of sexual assault by actor Anthony Rapp in 2017 in a separate case in the United States, in which a civil court later found in Spacey’s favour.

Addressing the accusations by the four complainants, Spacey told jurors that his relationship with the driver was “somewhat sexual” and that any touching between them was consensual. He accepted making a “clumsy pass” at the man he met in the pub, but denied sexually assaulting him.

He denied the allegation he groped the third man at the charity event, calling it “absolute bollocks”.

Regarding the fourth complainant, Spacey said the encounter was “consensual”, after what he described as a “nice and lovely evening”.

Spacey’s lawyer Patrick Gibbs told the jury it was not a crime to like sex or have casual sex even if you were a famous person, and that it was “not a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex, because it’s 2023 not 1823”.

Gibbs suggested that, given Spacey’s wealth and fame, some of the accusations were motivated by financial reasons, telling jurors that at least three of the complainants had brought civil lawsuits seeking money in damages.