Kevin Spacey fights back tears as he testifies how sexual assault allegations ‘blew up’ his career

LONDON –

Kevin Spacey fought back tears and dabbed his eyes with a tissue on Thursday as he told jurors in a London court how allegations of sexual misconduct destroyed his career six years ago.

“My world exploded,” Spacey said during his sexual assault lawsuit. “There was a rush to judge and before the first question was asked or answered I lost my job, lost my reputation, lost everything in a matter of days.”

The emotional testimony came towards the end of his nearly three hours on the witness stand in what could be the most meaningful part of his life. He denied sexually assaulting three men and blamed the groin-grabbing allegations by a fourth as a “clumsy pass”.

The allegations that spiraled Spacey’s stellar film and stage career came in 2017 when the #metoo movement gained momentum in the US and a fellow actor accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior three decades earlier.

News of those allegations prompted others to come forward, including four men in England who said the two-time Oscar winner sexually assaulted them between 2001 and 2013.

Prosecutor Christine Agnew has called Spacey a “sexual bully” who “takes pleasure in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.”

The four alleged victims, who did not know each other, independently described disturbing encounters that escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive caressing. A man who called Spacey a “despicable sexual predator” said he passed out or fell asleep on the actor’s London couch and woke up to find him performing oral sex.

Spacey spoke in a calm tone and with a sincere demeanor, raising his voice only briefly in contempt to address some of the allegations.

At times he was humorous, humble and self-deprecating as he gushed about an acting career that began, he joked, when he emerged from his mother’s womb. He repeatedly dropped names of some of the stars in his universe, including high school classmate Val Kilmer and Judi Dench — who he said taught him how to play ping pong.

Spacey seemed more than content to reflect on happier times in his career, but was repeatedly drawn back to why he was addressing a jury of nine men and three women at Southwark Crown Court.

He could face a prison sentence if convicted of charges including assault and assault and one charge of inciting penetrative sexual activity without a person’s consent. Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Attorney Patrick Gibbs took Spacey through the allegations chronologically, dating back to the early 2000s when he came to work at London’s Old Vic Theater and later became its artistic director.

Spacey took a dramatic pause in his testimony as he recalled the “intimate” and “somewhat sexual” friendship he shared with a man who now accused the actor of violently groping him. He said he was “crushed” because the man accused him of assault.

“I never thought (the man) I knew would stab me in the back 20 years later,” Spacey said.

The prosecution had testified that the caressing of Spacey reached its peak when the man was driving and grabbed Spacey by the crotch so hard that he nearly ran off the road. He told police he warned Spacey never to do it again and threatened to knock him out.

“That never happened,” Spacey testified. “I wasn’t on a suicide mission in all those years.”

Spacey said the man was funny and charming and looked wistful when he looked at a photo the man sent him of a mountainous trek he took to raise money for charity.

“I’m a big flirt,” Spacey said, acknowledging that he had probably taken the first steps. He said he touched the man, but not in a “violent, aggressive, painful way”.

Spacey’s description of gentle stroking directly contradicted the testimony of the alleged victims. They said he surprised them when he aggressively grabbed their genitals through their clothing.

“It wasn’t a caress,” one man testified. “It was like a cobra came out and took hold.”

Spacey called that man’s story “madness” and said it never happened. He also denied making racist remarks to the man during a rehearsal for a charity theater event.

Addressing the most serious charge in the case, Spacey raised his voice and denied the suggestion that he drugged a man before assaulting him.

“I know how I am with someone and I would never act like he claimed – it makes no sense,” he said.

Spacey said he couldn’t remember the man when police confronted him. After repeatedly watching video of the man’s interview by a detective, he said he found out they had a brief consensual sexual encounter in his apartment that ended with the man leaving in a hurry.

“The person I was having this intimate moment with was suddenly clumsy and clumsy,” he said. “Whether he immediately regretted it, I don’t know. I can’t speak for him, but there was something odd.”

He said his phone records showed they continued to text each other for months.

Spacey said he primarily accepted the account of a fourth man who accused the actor of kissing him twice on the neck and reaching for his crotch during a night of heavy drinking.

The man testified that Spacey looked panicked when he pushed him away, saying, “I’m not hitting for that team.”

Spacey said he couldn’t remember making the “clumsy pass” but was glad the man said he stopped when the man said he wasn’t interested.

At least two of the men have also filed charges against Spacey.

Spacey said he has successfully fought his accusers in US courts but is in debt with legal bills.

Prosecutors in Massachusetts dropped charges against him when the alleged victim refused to testify. A New York jury last fall acquitted Spacey in a $40 million lawsuit brought by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp on charges dating back to 1986.

Spacey said he fought that case the same way he did in London, but doggedly sifted through old files, boxes of photos and other evidence that might refute the claims.

Spacey looked across the courtroom to his 12-member audience and noted that he had been swiftly acquitted in the New York case by a unanimous “jury of my peers.”

Spacey will be questioned for hours on Friday and his lawyer will then present several witnesses on his behalf.