UPDATING LIVE: Kevin Spacey has been labelled a “sexual bully” who “sexually assaults other men” and “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable” by the prosecutor opening the American Beauty star’s trial this morning.
Christina Agnew KC told 12 jurors that Spacey’s preferred method of assault is to “grab aggressively other men in the crotch” but that “on one occasion things went further than that.” The Oscar-winning House of Cards and Se7en star denies 12 charges against him, including sexual assault and indecent assault, alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013.
Agnew, who urged jurors to “keep yourself grounded” and avoid becoming “star struck,” said the jury over the next four weeks will hear from four men during the trial, all in their 20s or 30s, who attracted the attention of Spacey – real name Kevin Spacey Fowler.
She said: “None of the men wanted to be touched by Kevin Spacey Fowler in a sexual way but he doesn’t seem to have cared very much for their feelings. He did what he wanted to do for his own personal sexual gratification.”
“What does the defendant say in answer to these allegations?,” she added. “Well in relation to some he suggests that they are quite simply made up. In relation to others, he accepts that there was a sexual encounter between him and the other man but asserts that anything that took place would have taken place with the consent of the other man.”
Agnew labelled Spacey a man who “sexually assaults other men, a man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable, a sexual bully.”
Spacey arrived at Southwark Crown Court in a taxi a couple of hours ago looking calm in images supplied by the Press Association. He is likely to appear on each day the trial sits during the next four weeks but won’t necessarily take the stand.
In an initial court hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June, Spacey’s lawyer, Patrick Gibbs QC, said his client “strenuously denies any and all criminality in this case”. Speaking to ZEITmagazin earlier this month, Spacey said “there are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London.”
Before the jury panel was selected for the trial, Mr Justice Mark Wall told prospective jurors: “I am sure the defendant will be gratified to know that many of you will know his name or have seen his films.”
On Wednesday, the judge said the case has “quite obviously” attracted a lot of media attention, but that they “must avoid this coverage where you can”.
Spacey has an address in Waterloo, south London, but also lives in the U.S., where he has family and a dog.
The trial continues.