Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has labelled the prosecution’s case against him as “weak” – accusing one alleged victim of being after “money, money and then money”.
The Hollywood star told a jury he could have had sex “all the time” but found it hard to trust people because of his fame, as he continued to give evidence from the witness box at Southwark Crown Court.
After describing the accusation of an alleged victim he met in a West End theatre in the mid-2000s as “absolute bollocks”, prosecutor Christine Agnew KC responded: “Because that’s exactly where you did grab him, isn’t it?”
“Really?” Spacey replied before turning to the judge to ask: “Did he accuse me of grabbing his bollocks?”
After being asked by the judge to answer the question, the defendant eventually said: “I did not.”
Spacey said he “objected” to the term “crotch grab” that his alleged victims had used in accusations against him.
He denies 12 charges concerning four men, including sexual assault and indecent assault, which are alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
Spacey (63) admitted he felt “lonely” at times after becoming famous and said he had reached out to people to “ease that burden” – telling the jury: “Welcome to life.”
During her cross-examination of the defendant, Miss Agnew first asked Spacey whether the “crotch grab” was something that he would “normally do to someone you had met for the first time”.
Spacey replied: “No.”
Questioned on whether it was something he had done before that had worked, and that he considered it a “trademark”, Spacey replied: “No.
“Let me put it this way, it is the term ‘grabbing a crotch’ or ‘groping a crotch’ that I object to.”
Responding to allegations made by an aspiring actor, who accused Spacey of having “drugged” him and performing a sex act on him while he was asleep in his flat in the late 2000s, the star said: “We were in a romantic situation.
“I don’t know who made the first move, but we were consensually together in a romantic situation.
“He did not fall asleep and I did not perform (a sex act) on him while he was asleep, despite what he has shockingly accused me of.”
When Miss Agnew suggested the complainant was asleep, Spacey said: “That’s your theory.”
“Well that is the prosecution case,” the prosecutor said.
Spacey replied: “And it’s a weak one.”
Addressing the suggestion that he might have “ignored” signs from the four complainants, Spacey said he “definitely misread” signs from one man who rejected an alleged sexual grab at an expensive property he was staying at in the Cotswolds in the early 2010s.
The actor said he had “consensual interactions” with two other complainants – one who drove him to a lavish showbiz party in the early 2000s and the aspiring actor.
Miss Agnew asked Spacey: “Do you think that you might have misinterpreted what they were doing or saying?”
The actor replied: “If they went further than they wanted… they did not let me know that.”
Spacey said it “seems that they regretted what they did at a later time”.
Questioned on whether he thought people were tempted by his approaches because of “who you are”, the defendant said: “I hope they liked me because they liked me, not because of who I am.”
Miss Agnew then asked: “You must have been aware that you were an extremely famous person?”
Spacey replied: “Yes, but I don’t go through my life thinking about that.”
He continued: “I was a very fortunate actor who got some very remarkable film roles.”
Continuing to question the actor, Miss Agnew then asked: “Did you ever feel lonely in those years?”
“Of course,” Spacey answered.
Miss Agnew continued: “Did you then reach out to people sexually in order to ease that burden?”
Spacey replied: “Welcome to life. Yes, yes I did.”
Asked if he found a “thrill” out of taking “sexual risks” such as one-night stands, Spacey responded by saying he was “open” about the times he had been “promiscuous”.
“It doesn’t make me a bad person,” the actor added.
Miss Agnew then asked Spacey: “Have you found that due to your status and position, people normally did what you wanted them to do?”
“No,” the actor replied.
Miss Agnew went on: “You didn’t find it easier to pick up people because of who you are?”
Spacey answered: “I found it harder to trust people because of who I was.”
After the prosecutor asked the same question again, the actor responded: “I am sure if I wanted to I could have had sex all the time, but I didn’t.”
The Hollywood star said he was “attracted to masculine men” but when asked about whether he was attracted to straight men, Spacey replied: “How would I know if they were straight or not?”
The defendant, standing trial under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, was labelled a “sexual bully” when proceedings began last month.
He pleaded not guilty in January to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
The two-time Academy Award winner also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The trial continues.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
