One of actor Kevin Spacey’s accusers described the Oscar winner in court Monday as a “slippery, sneaky” predator, warning good-looking, young people to avoid.
The man, who worked with the American actor when he visited London’s Old Vic theater in the early 2000s, said Spacey had told him he could introduce him to Hollywood stars. But the person said the message around the Playhouse was that it should be wary of Spacey.
In a video of his police interview played for jurors in Spacey’s sexual assault trial, the man said, “It was well known that nothing good came of it.” “He was almost right in grooming me from the start.”
She said Spacey made her uncomfortable by asking questions about her sexuality, then became “possessive” and aggressively touched her when they were alone together.
The man, who cannot be identified under British law, compared Spacey to the villain he played in the 1995 thriller “Se7n” about a serial killer inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins.
The man said in his police interview last year, “He’s kind of like that, a little scary.”
Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges involving four men for incidents from 2001 to 2013. The charges include sexual harassment, indecent assault and engaging in penetrative sexual activity without a person’s consent.
If convicted, he could face prison, although Spacey told a German magazine that he expected to be offered work “as soon as I am cleared of these charges”.
The case is expected to go on Tuesday for four weeks before a jury of nine men and three women at Southwark Crown Court.
Once one of the biggest actors of his generation, Spacey won an Academy Award for Supporting Actor in 1995 for “The Usual Suspects” and an Oscar for Best Actor for the 1999 film “American Beauty.” He has also won awards for the stage and small screen.
His career came to an end when allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced against him following the outbreak of the #MeToo movement. He was dropped from Netflix’s political thriller “House of Cards” and completed the movie “All the Money in the World.”
The actor, who has homes in the US and London, is free on bail. He served as artistic director at the Old Vic from 2003 to 2015.
The man said he was horrified when Spacey first approached her by rubbing her neck during their working relationship in the early 2000s.
He testified, “The first time he touched me I got a huge shock.” “I don’t like people getting their hands on me at all.”
When he complained to the woman he worked for, she laughed it off and said, “You can deal with it, you can handle it. We all know how he is,” he said.
The man said he decided he didn’t want to “disturb the apple cart” and set about his task.
But as Spacey grabbed the man’s arm and used it to rub his genitals over his pants, he began to fear when Spacey would return to London.
Defense attorney Patrick Gibbs suggested during cross-examination that the man, who was hiding in the courtroom behind a curtain, became obsessed with the touch and was even thrilled by it.
“Nothing happened between us. He was attacking me,” the man said. ‘I was doing my job and he was touching me.’
Gibbs confronts the man with a photo of himself and Spacey posted on social media six years ago, in which his arm is visible around Spacey’s back.
“Did you find it difficult to stand there together?” Gibbs asked.
The person said that he used this image to promote his business.
The person said, “Whoever does social media, would have died for such a picture.”
She said her last chance to work with Spacey came the day he was driving her to a celebrity-adorned summer event in 2004 or 2005, when the star violently grabbed her crotch and she nearly ran off the road. Went.
“He grabbed me very hard and I was in a lot of pain,” he said. “I pushed him to the door and said, ‘Don’t do that again, or I’ll kick you out.'”
Spacey replied, “It’s a huge change for me.” “You are such a man.”
However, Gibbs said that Spacey had only attended that party once—three or four years before the witness’s claim.
The defense attorney also showed jurors a snapshot the man sent Spacey as a thank you for his support on a trip to the charity in the Rocky Mountains of North America. The man also kept a warm letter that Spacey wrote him after donating 5,000 pounds ($6,350) for the trek.
The man said she had told few people in her life about her experience with Spacey, fearing it might affect her career. They said they decided to come forward last year after Spacey was accused of assaulting three other alleged victims in the case.
“That’s a big part of it,” said the man. “Strength in numbers, isn’t it?”
“Or is it that in 2022, you saw a bandwagon coming and you decided to hop aboard?” Gibbs asked.
“That’s not true at all,” said the man.
Two decades later, the man said he never got over the embarrassment he felt and could not bring himself to watch Spacey’s movies or TV shows.
“I can’t stand looking at that man. It makes me feel sick,” the man said.
Brian Melly, The Associated Press