Accused of sexual assault by four men between 2001 and 2013, the comedian of House of Cards has been heard by British justice since June.
Soon the hour of the verdict. This Monday, July 24, in London, the jury retired to deliberate in the trial against American star Kevin Spacey, accused of sexual assault by four men between 2001 and 2013. The actor, twice Oscar winner for his roles in American Beauty (1999) and Usual Suspects (1995), has since been banned from Hollywood.
Acts committed between 2001 and 2013
Presented as a “sexual harasser” using his influence to assault young men by the prosecution, the 63-year-old actor, who has been on trial since late June, pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. He asserted that these relationships were consensual and that certain facts were invented by the plaintiffs. Four men accuse him of sexual assault between 2001 and 2013, notably from 2004 when he was director of the London theater The Old Vic.
Among the charges against him, Kevin Spacey is accused by one of the plaintiffs of drugging him and having sex with him while he was sleeping. During the four-week trial at London’s Southwark Court, the prosecution portrayed the actor, who appears free, as a “sexual harasser” And “a man who does not respect boundaries or personal space” others.
The first accusations against the comedian emerged in 2017, at the very beginning of the #MeToo movement. Kevin Spacey was then at the height of his fame, world famous for his role as Frank Underwood, elected Democrat to the House of Representatives, in the hit Netflix series House of Cards. In the process, he was landed from the series and other projects in which he was to take part.
“Lost Reputation”
During their interrogations in front of the police, broadcast during the trial, the four plaintiffs claimed not to have dared to speak earlier, for fear of not being believed in front of a well-known and influential personality. In front of the jury, the actor presented himself as a “big flirty” but denied any behavior “violent”, “aggressive” Or “sore”believing that the prosecution case was “weak”.
He claimed to have been “broken” by the prosecution and spoke, visibly moved, of his “lost reputation”. In mid-July, the fallen Hollywood star received the support of singer Elton John, who testified from Monaco in his favor.
Tried for similar facts by the civil court of New York last year, the actor had been found not guilty by the American justice. In London, jurors must decide by the end of the month on the nine charges against Kevin Spacey.