(London) American actor Kevin Spacey arrived in court in London on Wednesday morning, where he is to be tried for several sexual assaults dating back to the oldest in the early 2000s, which he denies having committed.
The 63-year-old Hollywood star has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges against him which were revealed in the wake of the #metoo movement, putting his career on hold.
This trial at Southwark Crown Court in south London is expected to last a month.
Kevin Spacey arrived with his attorneys shortly after 3 a.m. EST, more than two hours before the start of the hearing. Looking relaxed, in a suit, he quickly waved to the dozens of journalists present before entering the court.
The two-time Oscar winner for his roles in American Beauty And Usual Suspects was first prosecuted last summer for four sexual assaults on three men between March 2005 and April 2013 when he was manager of London’s Old Vic theatre.
In November 2022, the proceedings were widened to include another case, in which he is accused of sexually assaulting a man between 2001 and 2004, including forcing him “to engage in non-consensual sex”, according to the Crown Attorney’s office.
Other charges against the actor include forcing a person to engage in non-consensual penetrative sex, or intentional sexual touching of another person without his or her consent.
“Prove his innocence”
None of his alleged victims can be identified, under the law in England.
Already heard at several preliminary hearings, for which he had traveled in person or had appeared by videoconference, Kevin Spacey Fowler, his real name, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.
After the green light from the prosecution, the actor said he was “disappointed”, but announced his intention to appear before the British courts to “prove his innocence”.
These accusations emerged in 2017 at the start of the #metoo movement, when Kevin Spacey was at the height of his fame, leading interpreter of the hit Netflix series House of Cards. In the process, he was landed from the last season.
Actor who became famous for his roles as anti-heroes or frankly villains, Kevin Spacey has disappeared from the screens since these cases which were not limited to the United Kingdom, even if he was never convicted.
Accused of sexual touching by actor Anthony Rapp in the United States, during a party dating back to 1986, he was found not guilty last October by a New York civil court.
He had also been charged with indecent assault and sexual assault on an 18-year-old young man in a Massachusetts bar, but US justice dropped the charges in July 2019.