American actor Kevin Spacey says he is "humbled" after a jury found him not guilty of nine sexual offence charges in a high-stakes criminal trial in London.
Prosecutors claimed that the 64-year-old "aggressively" grabbed three men by the crotch and performed a sex act on a fourth while he was asleep in his flat.
Spacey vigorously denied the allegations against him, calling them "madness" and a "stab in the back".
He also said he was promiscuous, a "big flirt" who had "casual, indiscriminate sexual encounters", but insisted he was not a criminal.
After three days of deliberations, the jury at Southwark Crown Court found the actor not guilty of all nine charges.
As he stood in the dock to hear the verdict, Spacey broke down in tears, wiped his face with a tissue and mouthed the words "thank you, thank you" to the jury.
He then hugged his lawyer and left the courtroom.
"I imagine that many of you can understand that there's a lot for me to process after what has just happened today," he told reporters outside court.
"I am humbled by the outcome."
Prosecutor calls Spacey 'sexual bully'
During the four-week trial, prosecutors told jurors that Spacey was "a sexual bully" and a man who "delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable".
The allegations covered a period between 2004 and 2013, when Spacey served as artistic director at the Old Vic theatre in London.
One complainant alleged that while working as Spacey's driver in the early 2000s, the actor grabbed his crotch so aggressively that he nearly ran the car off the road.
Spacey denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he and the man had a "naughty relationship" involving "sexual touching" over their clothes.
Two other men claim that Spacey also grabbed their genitals without consent.
While he admitted to perhaps making a "clumsy" pass at one of the men, he denied ever being violent.
"I respected when they told me they are not interested, and that's what I’ve done my whole life," he told the court.
A fourth man told the court he was a "starstruck" aspiring actor who reached out to Spacey for advice on his career.
He alleged that the actor invited him to his London flat, where they drank beer and smoked cannabis.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court he later woke up to find the actor performing a sex act on him without his consent.
Spacey insisted their encounter was consensual.
'I lost my job, I lost my reputation'
Spacey was one of the highest profile men accused of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement in 2017.
The two-time Oscar winner said his world "exploded" when BuzzFeed News published an article alleging he behaved inappropriately on the set of his Netflix drama House of Cards.
He was also accused of making an unwanted sexual advance on actor Anthony Rapp, who claimed he was just 14 at the time.
Rapp took Spacey to court in a civil trial in New York last year, but a jury found the actor not liable for battery.
When he gave evidence in his London trial, Spacey tearfully told the court that the allegations against him have destroyed his career.
"There was a rush to judgment," he said.
"Before the first question was asked or answered, I lost my job, I lost my reputation, I lost everything, in a matter of days."
Spacey and his legal team insisted that while he may have been "promiscuous", he has never assaulted anyone.
"It's not a crime to like sex, even if you're famous and it's not a crime to have sex, even if you're famous, and it's not a crime to have casual sex," his lawyer Patrick Gibbs told the jury.
"And it's not a crime to have sex with someone of the same sex because it's 2023 not 1823."
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement that it respects the jury's decision.
"The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges," a spokesman said.
Original article link: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-27/kevin-spacey-not-guilty-sexual-offence-charges/102653442
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