House of Cards star Kevin Spacey has thanked a British jury after they found him not guilty of a raft of sexual assault charges.
Spacey’s trial in London lasted four weeks and the jury heard accusations that between 2004 and 2013 he’d sexually assaulted four men on different occasions.
At the start of the trial Spacey faced 12 charges, seven sexual assaults, three indecent assaults, and one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without their consent. An additional indecent assault charge was added mid-trial, but all four were later struck out by the judge on a legal technicality.
Jurors rejected the prosecutions assertion that the actor was a “sexual bully” who used his power and fame to take advantage of the men. During his testimony Spacey said some of the interactions had been consensual, while rejecting others had ever occurred.
Accusations that Spacey was a sexual predator first came to light in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp described his recollections of interactions with Spacey when both were appearing in separate Broadway plays. The incident reportedly occurred in 1986 when fourteen-year-old Rapp was appearing in the play Precious Sons and Spacey was acting opposite Jack Lemmon in a revival of Long Day’s Journey into Night. Spacey was 26 years old at the time of the alleged incident.
Prior to Rapp’s allegation Spacey had always denied that he was gay and had previously baulked at media reports that suggested he was. The day after Rapp’s allegations surfaced, he issued a coming out statement.
Following Rapp’s comments, crew members of Spacey’s hit TV show House of Cards also came forward with complaints of sexual harassment. Spacey was fired from his hit TV show and edited out of a feature film he’d already completely filming. Producers of House of Cards later successfully sued the actor for over $30 million arguing that his actions had forced the show to be shortened and ultimately cancelled.
Spacey also faced additional accusations from several other men who claimed to have been groped by the actor. He has denied many of the claims ever occurred.
In 2020 Rapp sued Spacey in a New York court for sexual assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress under the Child Victims Act, which extended New York’s statute of limitations for civil suits related to child sexual abuse. Rapp sought $40 million in damages. Joining Rapp in his case was an anonymous man who also claimed he’d been abused by Spacey in 1983 when he was 14 and Spacey was 23, his participation in the case was later rejected because he refused to be publicly identified. A jury found the claims not proven.
With the majority of his legal cases now in his past, the actor will be hoping to return to his work in theatre and film. Speaking outside court Spacey said there was a lot for him to process after the jury’s decision.
“I’m enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence, and all of the facts., carefully before they reached their decision, and I am humbled by the outcome today.” Spacey said.
Since the multiple accusations were levelled against the actor, he’s only appeared in one European film, Franco Nero’s The Man Who Drew God. Spacey has reportedly already filmed several other movies though including a film where he’ll portray famous gay writer Gore Vidal.
OIP Staff
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