American actor Kevin Spacey appeared in court on Thursday in London for a pre-trial hearing, facing charges of sexual assault on three men that he disputes.
Released after a first hearing nearly a month ago, the star actor of the
House of Cards series
is being prosecuted for four sexual assaults on three men between March 2005 and April 2013. The actor from The 62-year-old is notably accused of forcing one of them into penetrative sexual activity without his consent, a charge which is distinct from rape (which involves penetration with a penis) in English law.
Kevin Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all five counts against him.
Some facts are said to have been committed in the Lambeth district of London, where the Old Vic theater is located, of which he was artistic director between 2004 and 2015.
After the green light from the prosecution, the actor said he was "
disappointed
" but announced his intention to appear before the British courts to "
prove his innocence
".
“
Mr. Spacey vigorously denies any criminal act in this case
,” his lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, said on June 16, “
he must answer these charges to move on with his life
.”
The charges against him were made in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the Weinstein scandal, named after the American film producer targeted by numerous accusations of harassment and sexual assault, revealed in the fall of 2017. They had serious consequences on the career of the two-time Oscar-winning actor (for
American Beauty
and
Usual Suspects
).
Evolving on the boards before being devoted to the cinema, he had been landed by Netflix from the hit series
House of Cards
where he played the main character.
His big return to the cinema - in the film
L'uomo Che Disegno Dio
(The man who draws God) - was however announced last year.
In the United States, Kevin Spacey had been charged with indecent assault and sexual assault in the state of Massachusetts, on the East Coast.
He was accused of having, in July 2016, got his hands on the sex of an 18-year-old young man employed in a bar, after having made him drink.
But the charges were dropped in July 2019.
At the end of May, he appeared before a New York judge for a procedural hearing in a civil suit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who had accused him of making sexual advances to her when he was teenager.
Kevin Spacey had denied and the action was dropped in criminal proceedings.
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