Kevin Spacey told a British jury on Thursday that he was “a big flirt” who, as he put it, had soft, touching and romantic encounters with a man who accused him of sexual assault. He has always respected the man’s boundaries, Mr. Spacey said, adding that he felt “dejected” when the man accused him of assault.
Two weeks after a sexual assault trial began in London against the Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning actor, Mr Spacey’s testimony on Thursday was the first time the jury had heard directly from him.
Mr Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges relating to incidents which prosecutors say involved four men and which occurred from 2001 to 2013. For most of this period Mr Spacey was Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theater in London.
Mr Spacey – wearing a gray suit and light blue tie – sat at the front of the courtroom at Southwark Crown Court, facing the jury. He was quiet and occasionally joked with his legal representative, Patrick Gibbs.
When Christine Agnew, a British prosecutor, opened the trial last month, she told jurors that Mr Spacey was “a sexual bully” who “enjoys making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.” He has repeatedly groped men, Ms Agnew said. On one occasion, Ms Agnew added, Mr Spacey gave oral sex to a man without his consent.
In the days following Ms Agnew’s opening, the jury heard the four anonymous complainants. UK law prohibits anyone from identifying complainants in sexual assault cases or from publishing information that could lead to their identification. The jury first looked at recordings of interviews each applicant gave to British police officers, then the prosecutor was cross-examined at the courthouse.
The first complainant said in his police interview that Mr Spacey touched him on a number of occasions in the early 2000s. On one occasion, the complainant said, he was driving with Mr Spacey to a ball organized by Elton John and the actor grabbed his genitals so hard that he nearly swerved off the road.
On Thursday, the day’s opening session focused on Mr. Spacey’s recollection of those encounters and the actor discussed his relationship with the complainant. He leaned back in his chair and said in a wistful voice that the man was “friendly, charming and flirty.”
The couple’s encounters gradually “became a little more sexual,” Spacey said, adding that it was most likely on the actor’s own initiative. Mr Spacey said the couple never had sex. The complainant “made it clear that he wished to go no further,” Mr Spacey added. He said he respected the complainant’s boundaries.
Mr Gibbs then asked Mr Spacey to recall how he felt upon learning that the complainant had accused him of assault. Mr Spacey said he was “beaten down” and felt as if the complainant had stabbed him in the back. The court then adjourned for a break.