LONDON (AP) — An aspiring actor who accused Kevin Spacey of being a “vile sex offender” who drugged and assaulted him as he sought his mentorship, admitted on Monday he later joked with friends that he might resort to sex with the Oscar winner if he couldn’t find work.
The man testified that he coped with the trauma he experienced after falling asleep or passing out in the Hollywood star’s apartment and waking up with humor upon seeing Spacey perform oral sex on him.
“It became a running joke, and that’s me doing the joke,” he said of the mockery he made of the incident to create a “sense of catharsis.”
The man is the fourth and final alleged victim to accuse the two-time Oscar winner in the process sexual assault in the UK between 2001 and 2013 when Spacey worked at the Old Vic Theater in London.
Future release via Getty Images
Spacey, 63, is in court in a London court on 12 counts, including sexual assault, indecent assault and inciting a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He denies all allegations and his attorney has indicated that prosecutors are seeking a payout from Spacey.
The witness said he didn’t complain about Spacey for almost a decade after the 2008 incident because he wanted to work in the industry. He said it was a David versus Goliath situation and he feared “being beaten up by his lawyers”.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Patrick Gibbs confronted the witness about the jokes he later made about Spacey and apparent texts or calls he made to the star after the incident.
The man admitted he initially resisted police requests for phone details and social media accounts, but denied obstructing the investigation as his records could not be located at the time of the incident.
He denied having had any contact with Spacey for four months after the incident, although data on the actor’s phone appeared to include phone calls and text messages to the witness’s number.
The man strenuously denied claims that he fabricated the allegations because he was ashamed of engaging in sexual relations with Spacey.
“This type of questioning is offensive,” he said. “Nothing happened that was consensual.”
The Associated Press typically does not identify alleged sex crime victims by name, and UK law firms are providing information that could reveal their identities.
The witness said that Spacey is one of his idols and that he wrote to the actor because he “craved inspiration” and hoped to meet up for coffee and advice. He said he was stunned when Spacey called him a few weeks later and invited him to meet up for drinks later that evening.
He said he’d heard Spacey was gay and was into young straight men, but was naïve when he accepted the actor’s invitation to go to his flat in London’s Waterloo.
It wasn’t until he smoked some marijuana and drank beer that he got the feeling that Spacey had other intentions, the witness said. He said Spacey hugged him and nuzzled his head on the man’s crotch. He said he pushed Spacey away and tried to strike up a conversation.
“I felt like I was surrounded by a shark,” he testified.
He said he felt like he was on drugs and had become sleepy. He said he woke up five or six hours later, stretched out on the sofa, his pants unbuttoned, and Spacey kneeling over him with his head on his crotch.
During the man’s interrogation with police, which was played to the jury, he was embarrassed when he revealed details about the incident that he said he had never shared with his friends. He said he pushed Spacey away and the actor told him to leave.
Gibbs challenged the man’s timeline with recordings from Spacey’s phone, which appeared to show the actor calling him during the time he was allegedly lying on the sofa outside. Gibbs suggested Spacey called the witness while he was on his way home after having consensual contact, but the man said Spacey likely called him while he was unconscious to cover his tracks.
The man said he decided to come forward in 2017 after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct in the US when the #MeToo movement broke out.
The man said he sued Spacey after an American attorney told him he could get him $10 million, but denied he fabricated the allegations to return after years of financial difficulties and a gambling problem that forced him from Loans from friends and relatives to live, earn money.
He said he went to the police after a friend told him he would be more credible if he reported a crime before filing a complaint.
The trial will continue before a jury of nine men and three women at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.
Spacey, who is out on bail, could face jail time if convicted.
Spacey was one of Hollywood’s biggest names until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed his career. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1995 for the film The Usual Suspects and a Leading Actor Oscar in 1999 for the film American Beauty. He ran London’s Old Vic from 2004 to 2015.
