Accused of sexual assault, Kevin Spacey pleads not guilty in London
Kevin Spacey as he arrives at court in London.
American actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty on Thursday in London at a pre-hearing in a British court on charges of sexually assaulting three men.
Freed after a first hearing almost a month ago, the star actor of the series House of Cards is being prosecuted for four sexual assaults on three men between March 2005 and April 2013.
The 62-year-old comedian, who arrived in a blue suit at Old Bailey court, is also accused of forcing one of them into penetrative sexual activity without their consent, charge which is distinct from rape (which involves penetration with a penis) in English law.
He pleaded not guilty to all of these charges.
Certain facts were allegedly committed in the Lambeth district of London, where the Old Vic theater is located, of which he was artistic director between 2004 and 2015. After the green light from the prosecution, the actor said to himself disappointed, but had announced his intention to appear before the British courts to prove his innocence.
Mr. Spacey vigorously denies any foul play in the case, his attorney, Patrick Gibbs, said on June 16, he must answer these charges to move on with his life.
The charges against him were made in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the Weinstein scandal, named after the American film producer targeted by numerous accusations of harassment and sexual assault, revealed to the #x27;fall 2017.
They had serious consequences on the career of the two-time Oscar-winning actor (for American Beauty [American Beauty] and Usual Suspects [The Usual Suspects ]). Evolving on the boards before being devoted to the cinema, he had been landed by Netflix from the hit series House of Cards where he played the main character.
His great return to the cinema – in the film L'uomo Che Disegno Dio (The man who draws God) – had however been announced last year.
In the United States, Kevin Spacey had been charged with indecent assault and sexual assault in the state of Massachusetts, on the East Coast . He was accused of having, in July 2016, got his hands on the sex of an 18-year-old young man employed in a bar, after having made him drink. But the charges were dropped in July 2019.
In late May, he appeared before a New York judge for a procedural hearing in a civil suit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who accused him of making sexual advances to him when he was a teenager. Kevin Spacey denied this and the action was dropped as a criminal case.
