By Michael Sheils McNamee & Helena Wilkinson
BBC News
Kevin Spacey is a “sexual bully” who assaults other men, jurors have been told at the outset of his trial.
The American actor is facing 12 charges in a British trial, covering allegations made by four men stretching from 2001 to 2013.
He appeared at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday to hear the first day of evidence.
The 63-year-old denies all the allegations, which his lawyer said contained “many damned lies”.
The American actor spent considerable time in the UK while he was employed as the director of the Old Vic theatre in London between 2004 and 2015.
Prosecutor Christine Agnew opened the trial, which is expected to last for a month, by setting out the allegations levelled at Mr Spacey, who was referred to by his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler.
Miss Agnew told jurors: “He is an extremely famous actor who has won a number of awards. He is also, the prosecution allege, a man who sexually assaults other men.
“A man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable, a sexual bully.”
She urged jurors to concentrate on the evidence and not to feel “starstruck” or “overwhelmed” because of the actor’s fame.
Miss Agnew individually detailed what the complainants – all men in their 20s and 30s – allege happened when they met Mr Spacey. They are entitled to anonymity under the law.
The first complainant said that before the alleged assaults began, the actor would speak “openly about his sexuality” to him from the time they met, which made him uncomfortable.
Over time Mr Spacey began to touch him inappropriately, the complainant alleged, with the contact becoming “more intense” and escalating to occasions when he would “grab and grope… in an aggressive way”.
Miss Agnew alleged that Mr Spacey got a “sexual thrill out of this type of sexual aggression”.
The second complainant claimed Mr Spacey “simply laughed” when he pushed the actor away after being grabbed “with such force it was painful” at a work event in 2005.
The prosecutor said the third complainant, who was the first of the group to report Mr Spacey to police, met the actor at the Old Vic theatre and went to him seeking mentoring.
They went back to Mr Spacey’s flat after drinking in the pub together. When the complainant woke up, he found the actor was performing a sex act on him, the prosecution alleges.
He later said he feared this was “just how people in the acting world acted” and “sat and cried” at a bus stop at 5am following the alleged incident.
In 2013, the fourth complainant met Mr Spacey in an Oxfordshire pub he worked in, and then saw the actor later in the evening in another bar he had told the actor he would be going to.
The complainant alleges Mr Spacey repeatedly touched his leg, and later told him to “be cool” when the actor tried to kiss his neck after a group went back to where the actor was staying.
Miss Agnew said that, when the pair were alone in a room, Mr Spacey grabbed the complainant’s crotch.
The prosecuting lawyer ended her opening remarks by saying the actor abused his influence to take “what and who he wanted, when he wanted”.
In January, Mr Spacey pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
He also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Patrick Gibbs, who is defending Mr Spacey in the trial, gave a short opening speech, telling the court his client would “say in full in due course what actually happened”.
He said the allegations happened “a long time ago” and suggested elements had been “reimagined with a sinister spin”, “made up or twisted” and “deliberately exaggerated”.
Mr Gibbs added: “What did they want from his wealth and from his influence and what do they still want do you think?”
He continued: “You will soon hear I suggest some truths, you will soon hear some half-truths, you will also hear I suggest…some deliberate exaggerations and you will hear many damned lies.”
Mr Spacey has had a successful career in Hollywood spanning four decades, including winning two Oscars for American Beauty and The Usual Suspects, and starring in the first five series of Netflix’s House of Cards.
He was born in the US but continues to have a home in London.
The trial continues next week.
- Additional reporting by Sean Seddon
