Kevin Spacey Is “Crushed” by Sexual Assault Allegations, He Testifies in London Court

Two weeks into a UK sexual assault trial, Kevin Spacey has begun to defend himself in front of jurors. Taking the stand on Thursday, the actor admitted that while he has been “a big flirt,” he felt “crushed” when a man accused him of sexual assault. “I never thought that (the man) I knew would…20 years later stab me in the back,” Spacey said, as reported by the Associated Press.

The two-time Oscar winner previously pleaded not guilty against 12 charges that include sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. These alleged incidents involved four men and occurred between 2001 and 2013, a period during which Spacey was artistic director of London’s Old Vic theater.

Spacey reportedly became emotional as he recounted the “intimate” and “somewhat sexual” relationship he had with a man who is now accusing the actor of groping him so violently in a car that they nearly ran off the road. The defendant denied this account, telling the court, “I was not on a suicide mission in any of those years.” Spacey also said that the pair never had sex because the complainant “made it clear he didn’t want to go any further,” and that he “respected that.”

Another man who says he met Spacey at a 2005 charity event alleges that the actor made lewd comments toward him and forcibly grabbed his genitals. “It wasn’t like a caress,” the accuser testified. “It was like a cobra coming out.” Spacey said that “never happened” and described the man’s recollection as “madness,” in part because he would never “embarrass myself in such a way” at a public event.

A third man told police that after falling asleep in Spacey’s London apartment in August 2008, he awoke to find the actor performing oral sex on him. Spacey testified that the pair had a “consensual…nice and lovely” evening together, but that the man became “awkward and fumbling” after the oral sex, and “hurriedly left.” The actor said he later called the complainant to check on his well-being, as his phone records reflected, and exchanged text messages with him.

At the opening of the trial, prosecutor Christine Agnew called Spacey, who received a lifetime achievement award in Italy earlier this year, a “sexual bully” who “delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable.” If found guilty, Spacey faces a possible prison sentence.