(LONDON) A man who accuses Kevin Spacey of subjecting him to a torrent of verbal abuse and grabbing his crotch denied claims by the Hollywood star’s lawyer on Thursday that he invented the attacks.
The man is one of four to say the double Oscar-winning actor molested them in the UK between 2001 and 2013. For much of that time, Spacey was artistic director of the Old Vic Theater in London.
Spacey, 63, is on trial in a London court on 12 counts, including sexual assault, indecent assault and inciting someone to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent. He denies all the allegations and his attorney has suggested the accusers were looking to get money from Kevin Spacey.
The third alleged victim to testify said Spacey, smelling strongly of alcohol, sprayed him with a ‘machine-gun’ torrent of crude slurs before grabbing him by the crotch ‘like a cobra’ backstage at a London theater during a charity event in the early 2000s.
During cross-examination, Spacey’s attorney, Patrick Gibbs, alleged that many parts of the accuser’s story were “completely false.”
“With the greatest respect, you weren’t there and I was,” replied the man, who cannot be identified under UK law and testified out of view of members of the public.
” It was horrible. And no one has ever spoken to me that way, ever. »
He said the incident left him feeling “degraded” and “like I was worthless”.
The man denied the lawyer’s suggestion that he had sought to “money off” his meeting with Spacey.
Insisting on why he did not speak at the time, the accuser said ‘Mr Spacey was a shining West End light’. He added that he feared that if he said anything he would end up being the problem.
“It was such a horrible thing. I stored it in a box in my mind and tried not to think about it,” he said.
Kevin Spacey, who is on parole, could face a prison sentence if convicted.