The unusual suspect
Kevin Spacey’s real-life drama: Star appears in court to deny sex assault on 18-year-old man after plying him with alcohol
A SMILING Kevin Spacey appeared in a packed courtroom yesterday to face charges that he groped a teenager in a bar.
In his first public appearance since the allegations were made, the star of The Usual Suspects looked calm and relaxed enough to share a joke with his lawyer as they arrived at a small court room on the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts.
But he seemed much more serious inside, with the charges he faces carrying a sentence of up to five years in prison.
Prosecutors allege Spacey, 59, who also starred in US TV drama House Of Cards, sexually assaulted an 18-year-old man after plying him with alcohol in a bar.
Spacey said only ‘thank you’ during the 11-minute hearing although a not guilty plea was offered on his behalf to the single count of indecent assault and battery. Dressed smartly in a dark grey suit, polka dot tie and floral shirt, he was referred to by his legal surname of Fowler.
It was his first time in the spotlight since the Oscar-winner and former artistic director of London’s Old Vic theatre was engulfed in accusations a year ago from a string of young men who branded him a sexual predator.
Spacey stood impassively for much of the hearing, hands clasped in front of him staring at Judge Thomas Barrett as lawyers discussed how the case will proceed. He nodded when the judge informed him of the prosecution’s sole demand, that he make no attempt to contact his accuser, who was not in court.
When it emerged Spacey was to face charges, he delivered an extraordinary appeal for public sympathy in the form of a video that showed him in character as the Machiavellian president Frank Underwood, his character in House Of Cards.
The video was posted online on Christmas Eve, 20 minutes after it emerged he would be charged in the Nantucket case. ‘You wouldn’t believe the worst without evidence would you?,’ he asked.
Yesterday, when the judge pointed to where media cameras were located in the courtroom, Spacey turned so he could so he could see exactly where they were. Spacey’s lawyers had requested that he not have to attend the pre-trial hearing because his presence would ‘amplify the negative publicity already generated’.
However, the judge spared him from coming to the next one, scheduled for March 4, as long as he is available on the phone. It has emerged that Spacey’s case had previously been reviewed at a secret hearing at which charges could have been dropped.
Spacey was released without bail and refused to answer questions as he left court and was bundled back into a car, bound for the local airport. There, a private jet was waiting to take him back to his multi-million-pound waterfront home in Baltimore. The charge relates to an incident in July 2016 at the Club Car, a bar and restaurant on Nantucket. According to prosecutors, the 18-year-old victim, clearing tables at the bar, was introduced to Spacey by a bouncer and told the actor he was 23 and so legally allowed to drink.
Spacey then allegedly bought the teenager drink after drink and groped him, say court papers.
The alleged victim fled the bar when Spacey went to the lavatory but had filmed part of the assault on his phone and sent it to his girlfriend, it is claimed. Defence lawyers say no one else saw the alleged assault and the video footage does not show anyone being groped.
In November 2017, the allegations were publicly revealed by the teenager’s mother, a TV journalist, who said her ‘star-struck’ son hadn’t reported the assault at the time out of embarrassment and fear. By then, actor Anthony Rapp had already alleged that in 1986, when he was 14, Spacey, then 26, made sexual advances to him after a party. Spacey said he could not remember the incident. He simultaneously announced he is gay.
He faces other criminal investigations into sexual assault accusations. The claims have destroyed his acting career, leading his character being written out of House Of Cards and his role in All The Money In The World being reshot using another actor.
‘Amplify the negative publicity’