LONDON – The trial of Kevin Spacey began in London on Wednesday. The Hollywood actor faces charges of sexual assault, indecent assault and a more serious offense of inducing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Spacey pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges against him.
The 63-year-old arrived at London’s Southwark Crown Court smiling and waving to the media gathered outside the building as he woke up.
At the beginning of the proceedings, the judge laid down ground rules for the members of the jury. He acknowledged that the case had “given a lot of media coverage” and urged the legal team to “rely on what you see and hear in this courtroom”.
The trial is expected to last four weeks, and little more is likely to emerge at Wednesday’s opening hearing. Prosecutors were due to speak in court on Friday.
Actor Kevin Spacey (right) arrives at Southwark Crown Court on June 28, 2023 in London, England. Dan Kitwood/Getty
Spacey has repeatedly denied allegations by four men, now in their 30s and 40s, of acts allegedly committed by Spacey over a 12-year period between 2001 and 2013. Some of the allegations date back to a time when the actor was artistic director at London’s Old Vic Theatre, a position he held for more than a decade before leaving in 2015.
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The alleged victims cannot be identified under English law.
An internal investigation by the theater in 2017 uncovered 20 anonymous allegations of allegedly inappropriate behavior by Spacey during his tenure as artistic director.
“The Oscar winner’s fame and status at The Old Vic may have meant that people, and particularly up-and-coming talent or young actors, didn’t feel like they could speak up or ask for help,” the Old said in a statement Vic time.
Spacey’s glittering Hollywood career largely ended in 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp publicly accused him of sexual misconduct in another case and claimed Spacey targeted him when he was just 14 years old.
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Last October, a New York court dismissed a $40 million civil suit filed by Rapp against Spacey alleging sexual misconduct dating back to the late 1980s. A judge had separately ruled that Rapp filed the case too late for criminal charges.
Also in a separate case in Massachusetts in 2019, the indecent assault and assault charges against the actor were dropped after a young man who had accused him refused to testify in the case.
In an interview earlier this month with German magazine Zeit, Spacey insisted it was his work that “will be remembered” and expressed a desire to revive his career if he was acquitted of the charges against him in the UK would
“I know there are people at the moment who are willing to hire me as soon as I am acquitted of these charges in London. Once that happens, they’re ready to move on,” Spacey said.