Actor Kevin Spacey, 63, appears in London’s Southwark District Court today to answer twelve counts of alleged sexual offences. The winner of two Oscars for his work in the films ‘American Beauty’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’ has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, in a trial that will last four weeks.
Spacey directed the Old Vic theatre, not far from the courthouse, from 2001 to 2015. The presence of the American artist, who has also had success as a producer and screenwriter, gave glamor to one of the great theaters in the British capital, which he described as his home after presenting his departure from the United States as a voluntary exile after the election of President George W. Bush.
The renowned actor kept his homosexuality private, but in the environment triggered by the ‘Me Too’ movement, which in 2017 led to a series of complaints of sexual abuse by actresses, complaints against Spacey were also aired both in England and in the United States, causing the collapse of his career.
He publicly acknowledged his homosexuality. The production of the series ‘House of Cards’ was suspended by Netflix, in which he was one of the main protagonists and entered a rehabilitation center where he wanted to cure his addiction to sex, according to the spokesperson for he. Gradually, he has been integrated again in productions and events of the performing arts.
The British Crown Prosecutor’s Office presented in May this year four charges of sexual abuse for alleged crimes committed between 2005 and 2013 against three men, and another of undertaking a penetrative sexual act without prior consent. Seven more were added in November, allegedly committed against four men: three for sexual abuse, another three for ‘indecent abuse’ and one for causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
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