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Kevin Spacey appears before a British Crown Court on a number of charges
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Prosecutors in a British court have described famous American actor Kevin Spacey as a “sexual bully” who assaults other men.
This came before jurors at the start of the Oscar-winning trial of Spacey.
Spacey is on trial in Britain on 12 counts in the lawsuits brought against him by four men.
The time of the incidents dates back to the period between 2001 and 2013, according to the plaintiffs.
Spacey appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London today, Friday, to hear the evidence presented against him on the first day of the trial.
Spacey, 63, denies all charges against him.
The prosecution, represented by Christine Agnew, opened the trial, which is expected to last over a month, by reviewing the charges against Spacey.
Christine told jurors of Spacey: “He’s a very popular, award-winning actor. He’s also a man who sexually assaults other men.”
Christine added: “He’s a man who has no regard for boundaries or personal space. A man who seems to enjoy seeing others submit – he’s a sexual bully.”
Christine asked the jury to focus on the evidence and not fall into the trap of “celebrity awe” or fall under the influence of the defendant’s fame as an actor.
The trial began with the prosecutors presenting the plaintiffs – all men in their 20s and 30s – about what happened to them when they met Kevin Spacey.
The prosecutor told the court that Spacey spoke to the plaintiff “openly about his sexual orientation” in their first meeting, which left the plaintiff feeling uncomfortable.
Over time, Spacey began touching him inappropriately, before the matter escalated into “foreplay and grabbing parts of the body fiercely.”
The prosecutor said Spacey obtained “sexual pleasure from this type of assault”.
The second lawsuit also alleged that Spacey “laughed” when he pushed the actor (the plaintiff) away after he grabbed a spot on his body with “a force that was painful” at a work party in 2005.
The prosecutor said the third plaintiff, who was the first to file a police complaint against Spacey, met the famous actor at the Old Vic Theater in London, which Spacey managed.
It was 2008, and the plaintiff had gone to the theater seeking artistic direction.
The plaintiff and the defendant went to the bar, where they drank together, before heading to Spacey’s apartment. When the plaintiff woke up, he discovered that Spacey had engaged in a sexual act with him, according to the prosecution.
The court was also told how in 2013 the fourth plaintiff met Spacey at a bar where he worked, before seeing him later in the evening at another bar he had told him he was going to.
The lawsuit alleged that Spacey touched the plaintiff’s leg more than once, before the famous actor told him to “keep calm” when he kissed him on the neck.
When the two were alone in the same room, Spacey grabbed what was between the plaintiff’s thighs, according to the prosecution.
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The trial is taking place at Southwark Court, London
In January, Kevin Spacey denied the charges against him in three allegations of inappropriate behavior, three other allegations of sexual assault, and one allegation of sexual intercourse involving penetration with a person without that person’s consent.
Patrick Gibbs, Spacey’s attorney, said his client “will tell in detail and in due course the truth of what happened.”
The lawyer added that the time of the allegations dates back to a “distant past,” referring to “imaginary elements that were cunningly spun,” “fabricated or twistedly narrated,” and “deliberately exaggerated.”
Gibbs asked, “What do you see they wanted from his wealth and influence? And what do they still want?”
The four plaintiffs are entitled to remain anonymous by law.
Kevin Spacey has achieved wide fame in Hollywood for nearly four decades. He won two Academy Awards for his roles in “American Beauty” and “The Subjective Suspects”. He also starred in the first part of the series “House of Cards”.
Spacey was born in the United States, but worked as director of the Old Vic Theater in London between 2004 and 2015, and still owns a home in the British capital.
