Warning: This article contains sexual content
One of Kevin Spacey’s critics described the Oscar-winning actor in a London court on Monday (Tuesday NZT) as a “slippery, predatory person” who good-looking young men have been warned to avoid.
The man, who worked with Spacey when he came to the Old Vic Theater in the British capital in the early 2000s, said that the American actor offered to introduce him to Hollywood stars. But the man said the word around the theater was that he should be careful around Spacey.
“It was very clear that it wasn’t right,” the man said in a video of his interview with police that was played for jurors in Spacey’s trial. “He almost got me ready.”
The defendant, who cannot be identified under British law, is one of four men the former House of Cards star is accused of assaulting in the UK.
She said that Spacey made it difficult for her to ask about her sexuality, and that she became “reactive” and ended up being violent when they were alone. He compared Spacey to the villain he played in 1995’s Se7en about a serial killer motivated by the seven deadly sins.
“He’s like that, a little bit dangerous,” the man said in an interview with police last year.
Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges related to incidents that took place between 2001 and 2013. The charges include rape, indecent assault and inducing sexual activity without consent.
Jordan Pettitt/AP
Actor Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges, which relate to his actions between 2001 and 2013.
He could go to prison if found guilty, although Spacey told a German magazine that he hoped he would be offered a job “once I have been cleared of these charges”.
The trial, which is expected to last four weeks, continues on Tuesday before a jury of nine men and three women at Southwark Crown Court.
One of the greatest actors of his generation, Spacey won an Academy Award for his supporting role in The Usual Suspects in 1995 and a best actor Oscar for the 1999 film American Beauty. He has also won awards for the stage and small screen.
Her career came to a halt when allegations of sexual misconduct began to emerge as the #MeToo movement exploded. It was removed from Netflix’s political series House of Cards, and cut from the finished film All the Money in the World.
The actor, who has homes in the US and London, is free on bail. He served as artistic director at the Old Vic from 2003 to 2015.
The man who testified on Monday said he was shocked when Spacey began to make physical contact and rub his neck early in their career in the early 2000s.
He said: “The first time he caught me, it just shocked me. “I don’t like people’s hands on me.”
When he complained to the woman who was working for him, she laughed and said, “You can handle it, you can handle it.” We all know him as he is,” he said.
The man said he thought he “didn’t want to upset the cart” and continued his work.
But he said that when Spacey reached up to touch his crotch and took his hand to rub the actor’s private parts on his pants, he began to fear when Spacey would return to London.
She described how Spacey would lean into her as he sat next to her and let his hand wander up her leg and then her inner thigh. At that point in the testimony, Spacey was leaning on his right elbow as if listening from the court.
In cross-examination, defense lawyer Patrick Gibbs said the man, who hid in court behind a curtain, was disturbed by the touch and was happy about it.
“Nothing happened between us. He was beating me,” answered the man.
Gibbs confronted the man with a photo he posted on social media six years ago in which his arm appears to be behind Spacey’s back.
“Does it make you sick to stand on the sidelines?” Gibbs asked.
The man said he used the photo to promote his business.
“Anybody in the media would kill for a picture like that,” he said.
Elizabeth Cook/AP
Court photo taken by Elizabeth Cook of actor Kevin Spacey, left, in the dock as he listens to Christine Agnew KC, right, at Southwark Crown Court. Spacey is accused of raping four men over two decades ago.
He said the final straw came the day he was driving Spacey to a celebrity summer gala in 2004 or 2005. The star grabbed his rope and he nearly ran off the road, the man testified.
He said: “He held me tightly, and it hurt me a lot.” I pushed him to the door and told him, ‘Don’t do that again or I’ll knock you down.
“It’s a turn on for me,” Spacey said. “You are such a person.”
Gibbs, however, said that Spacey had been present only once – three or four years earlier than the evidence indicated.
The attorney also showed jurors a photo a man had sent Spacey as a thank you for supporting him on a charity trip to the Rocky Mountains in North America. The man also kept a warm letter that Spacey wrote to him after he gave £5000-pounds (NZ$10,300) for the trip.
Spacey told police when questioned that he considered her a “smart” and “beautiful” friend and was shocked and upset by his comments. She said that the man should think about their time together to tell lies because maybe he was too shy to admit the truth or he wanted to make money.
During the interview, the man said that he may have considered arresting Spacey but that any monetary award he could win in court “wouldn’t be enough”.
The man said he told few people in his life about his experience with Spacey, fearing it would affect his career. She said she decided to come forward last year after Spacey was charged with assaulting three other victims in the case.
“That’s a big part of it,” the man said. “Strong numbers, right?”
“Or where in 2022, you saw an army pass by, and you decided to get on it?” Gibbs asked.
“That’s not true at all,” the man said.
She said she has not gotten over the embarrassment she experienced with Spacey and cannot watch movies or TV shows.
“I can’t stand to look at that man. It hurts me,” he said.
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