Monday, July 17, 2023 7:39 PM – Jerusalem time
London – (AFP)
Elton John appeared Monday, via video, as a defense witness in the trial of American actor Kevin Spacey, who is appearing before the British judiciary in London on charges of sexual assault.
Spacey, 63, whose trial began in London in late June, pleads not guilty of 12 charges against him of sexually assaulting four men between 2001 and 2013, especially in 2004 when he was director of the Old Vic Theater in the British capital.
A man accuses Kevin Spacey of sexually assaulting him while he was driving the actor to a charity concert by Elton John “in the early 2000s”.
During cross-examination, the prosecutor said Spacey “grabbed so tightly” on the intimate part of his body that his car “almost swerved off the road”.
Spacey commented on Thursday, stressing that “what happened did not match what was described” by the plaintiff, and denied that he had taken any “violent”, “aggressive” or “painful” action.
In testimony given via video link from Monaco, Elton John confirmed that he remembers having Kevin Spacey in the early 2000s at this annual ball in Windsor, west London.
The singer said Spacey “arrived in a white tie” to the party.
“He came by private plane and got straight to the party,” Elton John added, adding that the actor slept at his house that evening.
Elton John’s husband, David Furnish, also witnessed the presence of Kevin Spacey at the social event. “He was an Oscar-winning actor, and there was a lot of excitement at the idea of him being in the party,” he said.
Kevin Spacey, who was dressed in a gray suit and polka dot tie, heard testimony from the two men at Crown Court in London.
Last week, Spacey categorically denied the charges against him, describing the relationships alleged in the prosecution as “consensual” and criticizing the prosecution’s “weak” arguments.
If convicted, Spacey faces the possibility of a life sentence, following this trial, which is expected to last a month.
