American actor Kevin Spacey appeared in a London court on Friday to answer new charges of sexual assault in the early 2000s, months after pleading not guilty to other similar charges.
The 63-year-old Hollywood star should be present by videoconference at this hearing, which takes place at 2:00 p.m. (local time and GMT) before a Westminster court and should not relate to the merits of the case.
Kevin Spacey is accused of sexually assaulting a man between 2001 and 2004, including forcing that person to “engage in non-consensual sexual relations”, the Crown Prosecution Service (SPC) said last month. The latter then authorized the police to add seven new charges to the already heavy file against Kevin Spacey.
The two-time Oscar winner (for American Beauty Y usual suspects) has already been prosecuted for four sexual assaults on three men between March 2005 and April 2013, when he was director of the Old Vic theater in London.
Heard in July during a preliminary hearing on these facts, for which he had made the trip to London, he had pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to take place in June 2023. After the green light from the prosecution, the actor said he was “disappointed” but announced his intention to appear before the British courts to “prove his innocence”.
#MeToo effect
The charges against him arose in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the Weinstein scandal, named after the American film producer who has been the subject of numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault, revealed in the fall of 2017.
They had serious consequences on the actor’s career, since he was signed by Netflix from the hit series “House of Cards”, where he played the main character. Kevin Spacey has also faced charges in the United States.
Last October, the comedian was found not guilty of sexual assault by a New York civil court. Actor Anthony Rapp accused him of groping him 36 years ago at a party in Manhattan.
Kevin Spacey had vigorously contested these accusations, but this case was an opportunity for him to come out as gay.
Also in the United States, Kevin Spacey had been charged with indecent assault and sexual assault on an 18-year-old boy in a bar in the state of Massachusetts, on the East Coast. The charges were dropped in July 2019.
Source: BFM TV
