Kevin Spacey is due to go on trial in London on sexual charges
LONDON –
Two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey, whose stellar acting career was derailed by sexual assault allegations, is on trial in London this week, charged with sex offenses against four men in Britain.
WHAT IS HE ACCUSED OF?
Spacey, 63, faces a dozen charges, including assault, indecent assault and solicitation of penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The actor, charged under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, has pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts, which relate to alleged incidents between 2001 and 2013.
At an earlier hearing, Spacey’s attorney said the actor “firmly denies” the allegations. The lawyer said Spacey would appear in British court to establish his innocence and “get on with his life”.
His trial before a jury at Southwark Crown Court begins on Wednesday and is expected to last four weeks.
WHY IS THE TRIAL IN BRITAIN?
Spacey lived in Britain for over ten years, where he was Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theater from 2004 to 2015. -the-Plow,” and host of star-studded fundraising events for the 200-year-old venue.
Spacey was questioned by British police in 2019 about claims by several men that he assaulted them. He was indicted in May 2022 on five charges against three alleged victims. Another seven charges were added in November, all against a fourth man.
Spacey, who has addresses in the UK and the US, has been released on unconditional bail pending trial.
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF SPACEY?
Beginning in the 1990s, Spacey became one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, starring in films such as ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ and ‘LA Confidential’. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and an Oscar for Leading Actor for the 1999 film “American Beauty”.
After allegations surfaced in the US amid the growing .MeToo movement, Spacey was fired or removed from projects — most notably “House of Cards,” the Netflix political thriller in which he played lead character Frank Underwood for five seasons. a power-hungry congressman who becomes chairman. He was cut from the finished film “All the Money in the World” and the scenes were reshot with Christopher Plummer.
Spacey is convinced that his career is not over yet. He had his first film role in several years in Italian director Franco Nero’s ‘The Man Who Drew God’ and also starred in the unreleased American film ‘Peter Five Eight’.
In January, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Italian National Film Museum in Turin. He also gave a masterclass and introduced a sold-out screening of “American Beauty” in what were billed as Spacey’s first speaking engagements in five years.
Spacey praised the organizers for “strongly championing artistic achievement” and for having “le palle” — the Italian word for male body parts synonymous with courage — to invite him.
He told the German magazine Zeit in a rare recent interview that the media had turned him into a “monster.” But he said: “There are people right now who are willing to hire me once I’m cleared of these charges in London.”
