Kevin Spacey trial: Prosecutor describes meeting with actor

LONDON –

A man Kevin Spacey met in a pub says that at one point, when they were alone during a night of heavy drinking with others, the actor kissed his neck twice and grabbed his crotch.

The two-time Oscar winner looked panicked after being pushed away and was told, “I’m sorry, man, I don’t play for that team,” the witness said.

The man’s interview with police was played back to jurors in Spacey’s sexual assault trial in a London courtroom on Tuesday.

Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that could send him to prison if convicted. His lawyer said Spacey denies all allegations of non-consensual acts and suggested prosecutors are seeking payoffs from a wealthy star.

Allegations by four men from 2001 to 2013 while the American actor worked at the Old Vic Theater include seven counts of sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault and causing penetrative sexual activity without a person’s consent.

The witness, who cannot be named under UK court rules, said Spacey had invited him and others back to a house where the actor was staying in the Cotswolds to “continue the party” after the pub closed. Spacey offered booze and marijuana, he said.

According to the witness, Spacey had been friendly when he drank double Jack Daniel’s whiskey and colas in the pub with the man and his group of friends. As the drinks flowed, the group began calling the Hollywood star “K-Dawg,” the witness said.

The man said he hadn’t given much thought to Spacey’s touchy behavior at the bar when he put his hands on the man’s and his friends’ backs and legs.

But he said he was shocked by what happened later after he accidentally let Spacey’s dog out of the house when he returned from smoking on the porch. He testified that he managed to catch the little dog and apologized to Spacey, who said not to worry and approached him in a “cuddly” manner.

“We did what I call an awkward man hug,” the witness said. “He hugged me, I gave a kind of pat on the back.”

Spacey then kissed his neck, grabbed his crotch and said, “Be cool, be cool,” the man testified.

He said that when he pushed Spacey away, the actor’s eyes widened and he got an “instantly panicked look on his face”.

The witness said he left the house and called his father and told him about the unwanted touching on the ride home.

When questioned by police about the allegation, Spacey said he had no recollection of kissing anyone’s neck or grabbing a crotch and would not have done such a thing without some indication of consent, according to the prosecution’s opening statement. .

Spacey said it was “quite possible and indeed probable” that he made a “clumsy pass” that he forgot and may have touched someone’s crotch in the process, the prosecution said.

The prosecution said the actor indicated he vaguely recognized a photo of the man and that he may have been part of a group the actor was drinking with at the time.

The witness will be heard on Wednesday by a jury of nine men and three women at Southwark Crown Court.

Spacey, who has homes in the US and London, is out on bail.