Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey said he was “humbled” after being found not guilty of sexually assaulting four men following a trial in London.
The Oscar-winner had denied nine charges including sexual assault, which were alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
Over the course of the trial at Southwark Crown Court, each of Spacey’s four accusers gave evidence, describing him as a “vile sexual predator”, “slippery” and “atrocious, despicable, disgusting”.
Kevin Spacey was found not guilty of all charges (Jordan Pettitt/PA)— (PA Wire)
In turn, the American Beauty actor described the allegations against him as “madness” and a “stab in the back”.
He denied seven counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
The actor, who turned 64 on Wednesday, became tearful as the jury cleared him of all nine offences, rejecting prosecution claims that Spacey had “aggressively” grabbed three men by the crotch and had performed a sex act on another man while he was asleep in his flat.
He held his hand on his chest and mouthed “thank you” through tears twice as the jury was discharged before embracing his legal team. An usher handing him a tissue to wipe away the tears rolling down his cheeks.
The Hollywood actor was tearful in court as the verdicts were announced— (AP)
Under questioning from Spacey’s lawyer, Patrick Gibbs KC, the complainants all denied either seeking financial gain, attempting to further their career or giving false accounts to the jury.
Spacey told jurors of “casual indiscriminate sexual encounters” but insisted that having one-night stands “doesn’t make me a bad person”.
Spacey had described the allegations as ‘madness’— (PA Wire)
He admitted touching a man’s crotch but said it was a “clumsy pass” after misreading the signals, rather than a sexual assault.
A number of famous names were mentioned during the trial, with Sir Elton John even being called as a defence witness.
Spacey also spoke of having gifted a ping-pong table to Dame Judi Dench after they worked on a film together, and told jurors about staying in Harry Potter star Richard Harris’s son’s flat in the 1980s.
The Oscar winner was emotional after the verdict— (REUTERS)
Addressing reporters outside court, Spacey said: “I imagine that many of you can understand that there’s a lot for me to process after what has just happened.
“But I would like to say that 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.”
In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service said: “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.
“It is the role of the jury to consider the charges and we respect the decision of the court.”
