Kevin Spacey may have escaped the New York frying pan, but next summer he’ll have to contend with a London fire.
Spacey was all smiles this week when a civil jury found him not liable for battery against “Rent” actor Anthony Rapp, who accused him of an unwanted sexual advance in 1986. Rapp, who was 14 at the time of the alleged encounter, was seeking $40 million from the former “House of Cards” actor.
But the worst-case scenario for Spacey had he lost that case would have been settling up whatever award the jury may have granted Rapp, who, on Friday, said his case was never about money, but “shining a light.”
Now Spacey and his defense team turn their attention to accusations in the U.K., which will be tried in a criminal court. Spacey has so far made good on his pledge to appear in person when summoned to the London bar, where he pleaded not guilty and “strenuously denied” the allegations this summer.
One man alleges two incidents from 2005, while a second claims he was a victim in 2008; both took place in London. The fourth accusation comes from a third man claiming he was assaulted in Gloucestershire in 2013.
The incidents amount to four counts of sexual assault, and one count of “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” The London Metropolitan Police reviewed the evidence and delivered it to the Crown Prosecution Service, which filed the charges this summer.
A three- to four-week trial was scheduled in London for June 6, 2023. It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of sentence Spacey would face if convicted – but significant detention is all but assured.
Spacey has been granted unconditional bail, in part because he needed to be in New York to face Rapp’s civil action. Though his victory will surely be disallowed as evidence in U.K. court, it can’t hurt to have jurors and court officers who know he’s already prevailed once against sex-assault allegations.
“I am confident I will prove my innocence,” Spacey said in light of the London charges, long before the Rapp trial even began.
Spacey had faced a separate criminal case in Massachusetts that was abruptly dropped in 2019 because the man who accused him withdrew the charge. The man claimed Spacey touched him inappropriately in 2016 when he was 18.
Between that and the Rapp verdict, Spacey certainly goes to London with a wind at his back. Multiple prospective jurors in the several #MeToo-related cases have openly expressed that they are disinclined to believe older allegations, or to convict without physical or DNA evidence (none of the jurors who expressed those views wound up on jury panels).
If Spacey beats the U.K. charges, he will have cleared out all standing legal matters he currently faces and could even get back to acting. Though with more than a dozen accusers now having come forward – including Rapp, the U.K. accuser and others who have not pursued the allegations in court – his reputation may have to stick to playing villains.
