Prosecutors drop groping case against actor Kevin Spacey
The case was hobbled after Spacey's accuser invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify about text messages that the defense said were deleted.
An aspiring actor who accused Kevin Spacey of drugging and assaulting him admitted he joked to his friends about potentially sleeping with Spacey if he couldn't find jobs.
"It became a running joke, and that’s me running with the joke," he said of the mockery he made of the incident for a "sense of catharsis."
On Monday, the man – who has remained anonymous – admitted that he turned to humor to cope with the traumatic event. He testified that he fell asleep at Spacey's apartment before he woke up to Spacey performing oral sex on him.
During cross-examination, Spacey's lawyer, Patrick Gibbs, confronted the witness with the jokes he later made about Spacey and apparent texts or calls he made to the star after the incident.
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A Kevin Spacey accuser admitted he joked about the alleged incident with friends to cope with the trauma. (Getty Images / File)
The man acknowledged he initially resisted requests by police for phone data and social media accounts. However, he denied obstructing the investigation, which couldn't find his records from the time of the incident.
He denied staying in contact with Spacey for four months after the incident despite data from the actor's phone that appeared to show phone calls and text messages to the witness' number.
The man rejected suggestions he made up the allegations because he was ashamed of engaging in sexual relations with Spacey.
Kevin Spacey arrives at Southwark Crown Court on July 6. (Lucy North / PA via AP)
"This line of questioning is offensive," he said. "Nothing happened that was consensual."
The witness said Spacey was one of his idols and that he wrote to the actor because he "craved inspiration" and hoped to meet up for a coffee and advice. He said he was stunned when Spacey called him several weeks later and invited him to meet later that night for a drink.
He said he had heard Spacey was gay and liked young straight men but was naive when he accepted the actor's invitation to go up to his flat in the Waterloo area of London.
Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty to 12 charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. (Wiktor Szymanowicz / Future Publishing via Getty Images / File)
Only after smoking some marijuana and drinking beer did he get the sense that Spacey had other intentions, the witness said. He said Spacey gave him a hug and nuzzled his head in the man's crotch. He said he pushed Spacey away and tried to make conversation.
"I was made to feel like I was being circled by a shark," he testified.
He said he felt like he was drugged and became sleepy. He said he woke up five or six hours later sprawled on the sofa with his pants open and Spacey kneeling over him with his head in his crotch.
The man said he decided to come forward in 2017 after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct in the U.S. when the #MeToo movement erupted.
In the man’s interview with police played for jurors, he became choked up as he provided details about the incident that he said he had never told friends. He said he pushed Spacey away, and the actor told him to leave.
Kevin Spacey leaves U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Oct. 20, 2022, in New York City. (Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images)
The man is the fourth and final alleged victim to accuse the two-time Academy Award winner at trial of sexual assaults in Britain between 2001 and 2013, when Spacey was working at the Old Vic theater in London.
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The "House of Cards" actor is currently on trial in London on 12 charges that include sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
Kevin Spacey leaves a New York courthouse after a jury found the former "House of Cards" actor not liable for sex abuse in a civil suit filed by actor Anthony Rapp. (Alex Rosenfeld / File)
Spacey has denied the accusations and his lawyer suggested the accusers are simply looking for payouts from his client.
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Spacey first faced allegations of sexual misconduct when actor Anthony Rapp came forward in 2017. Rapp accused Spacey of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s. Spacey was found not liable in Rapp's civil case against him.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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