Elton John briefly testified for the defense in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial on Monday, with the actor’s attorney attempting to discredit an alleged victim’s version that accuses the actor of touching him while he drove him back to the singer’s ball.
John appeared in court in London via video from Monaco, after her husband, David Furnish, gave evidence himself.
Furnish said Spacey did not attend the annual party at their Windsor home in the year referred to by the accuser.
One of the alleged victims said he was driving Spacey back to the White Tie & Tiara Ball in 2004 or 2005 when the actor grabbed her so tightly that he nearly veered off course.
Furnish supported Spacey’s own testimony that he did not attend the event until 2001. Furnish said he reviewed photographs taken at the party from 2001 to 2005 and that Spacey only appeared in the pictures only a year. He said all the guests were photographed every year.
John testified that the actor attended the party in the early 2000s and arrived after taking a private plane.
Furnish clarified that Spacey’s appearance was a surprise and he remembered it because it was a big deal at the time.
“He was an Oscar-winning actor and there was a lot of buzz and excitement that he was at prom,” he recounted.
John said he remembered Spacey coming to the gala only once and the actor spending the night at their house after the event. He also confirmed that Spacey bought a Mini Cooper at the auction held that night for his foundation.
An important timeline
The alleged victim admitted that she may have been in the wrong year, but that she would not have forgotten the events, as they took her breath away and almost caused a road accident.
The timeline, however, is important, as the man testified that Spacey fondled him for several years from the early 2000s. The incident in the car was the last occasion, he said, because he threatened the actor and then avoided him.
Kevin Spacey had reported that the two were friends and that they had had romantic contacts, but that the man was heterosexual, so the actor said he respected his wish not to go further. He claimed he was appalled when he learned the man had complained to police about him and said the man had ‘re-imagined’ what had been consensual touching.
Furnish said he knew the accuser and described him as “lovely,” the same term Spacey used.
Kevin Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges including counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent .
During two days of testimony last week, the Oscar-winning double insisted he never sexually assaulted three of the four accusers who described disturbing encounters between 2001 and 2013. The encounters allegedly escalated into unheard touching. desired and in aggressive caresses. In one instance, a man accuses Spacey of performing oral sex on him while he was unconscious.