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Kevin Spacey attended a pretrial hearing in Nantucket, Mass., in 2019, in a previous case that was later dropped. |
LONDON, UK — The Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom said on Thursday that it had authorized criminal charges against Kevin Spacey on four counts of sexual assault against three men.
Mr. Spacey, 62, has "also been charged with inducing a person to engage in penetrative sexual behavior without consent," according to Rosemary Ainslie, director of the service's special crime branch.
The charges were approved after a review of the evidence gathered by London's police department. In a telephone conversation, a representative for the agency stated that Mr. Spacey cannot be legally prosecuted unless he visits England or Wales. If that did not happen, the spokesperson declined to say whether the service would pursue extradition procedures.
The allegations allegedly included three complainants, according to the press statement. Mr. Spacey was the creative director of the Old Vic theatre in London at the time of the events, which occurred in March 2005, August 2008, and April 2013. Except for one occurrence in 2013, which happened in Gloucestershire, England, all of the instances occurred in London. One of the males was now "in his 40s," while the other two were now in their 30s, according to the Metropolitan Police, although their specific ages were not given.
Mr. Spacey's representatives did not immediately reply to demands for comment.
The actor Anthony Rapp was the first to publicly accuse Mr. Spacey of sexual assault, saying in 2017 that Mr. Spacey made unwelcome sexual overtures toward him when he was 14 years old in the 1980s.
Mr. Spacey was accused of sexually abusing her son by a former television anchor, and 20 individuals who worked with him at the Old Vic theatre in London, where he was artistic director for 11 years, accused him of inappropriate behavior.
Mr. Spacey did not participate in an independent inquiry commissioned by the theatre, which determined that "his popularity and standing at the Old Vic may have inhibited many, particularly junior staff or young players, from feeling that they could speak out or raise a hand for aid."
According to the article, the theatre was unable to independently verify the accusations. However, several cast members and crew members did go public. On Facebook, one actor, Roberto Cavazos, claimed that he "had a few of ugly meetings with Spacey at the theatre that came close to being termed harassment." Mr. Cavazos commented, "It appears that it just required a man under 30 to make Mr. Spacey feel free to touch us."
The Old Vic's representatives stated they couldn't comment on the pending criminal proceedings.
In 2018, Mr. Spacey was accused in Nantucket, Massachusetts, of sexually assaulting the television anchor's 18-year-old son. When the accuser cited the Fifth Amendment and refused to continue testifying, prosecutors abandoned the case.
Mr. Spacey was sued in California in 2019 by a massage therapist who said he groped and tried to kiss him before giving him oral sex during a session. The accuser died unexpectedly before the trial, and his estate abandoned the claim, which resulted in the case being dismissed.
Mr. Spacey has been nominated for two Academy Awards. In 2000, he received an Academy Award for best actor for his role in "American Beauty," and in 1996, he won an Academy Award for best-supporting actor for his role in "The Usual Suspects." He was also a well-known theatre performer, having won a Tony Award for his performance in "Lost in Yonkers" in 1991 and hosting the Tony Awards in 2017.
But, following allegations made by Mr. Rapp, who is currently suing him, he quickly fell out of favor, which was quickly followed by further charges.
After Mr. Rapp went public and further claims surfaced, TV and film companies began to withdraw Mr. Spacey from projects, including the Netflix political thriller "House of Cards," which ended its run without him. However, he has recently appeared in lesser films such as an Italian feature and an American thriller.
Croatian tabloids claimed in January that Mr. Spacey was filming a film in the nation in which he would play Franjo Tudjman, a former Communist commander who led Croatia to freedom.
According to Deadline, he has signed on for a historical drama called "1242 — Gateway to the West," which will begin filming in Hungary and Mongolia in October. The film would follow one of Genghis Khan's grandchildren. Deadline reported that it was being auctioned during the Cannes Film Festival. According to Rolling Stone, his latest American thriller was also selling well at Cannes.
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