by LONDON (AP) — Actor Kevin Spacey denied allegations he sexually assaulted four men in London on Thursday, testifying for the first time at his high-profile criminal trial.
Dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and light blue tie, the Oscar winner took the stand at Southwark Crown Court and denied sexually grabbing the complainants against their will.
«Little by little, over time, it became more sexual, but to be clear, we never had sex because he made it clear that he didn’t want to go any further… and that happens sometimes with people and I respect that,» she said. Spacey, referring to the first. complainant in the case.
This contact was romantic, he said, adding that it «did not happen in a violent, aggressive or painful way.» When asked if he was a flirt, Spacey agreed: «I’m a big flirt.»
The court previously heard evidence from the four plaintiffs, each of whom alleges that Spacey subjected them to sexual or indecent assaults. from 2001 to 2013. Prosecutor Christine Agnew told the court on the opening day of the trial that the actor is a «sex thug» who aggressively grabs men in the crotch.
None of the four whistleblowers in the case can be named as English law grants them anonymity for life.
When questioned about the first whistleblower, a man Spacey met in the early 2000s, by his defense attorney, Patrick Gibbs, the actor paused, smiled and said: “I really liked him. … We had a good time together. We laughed a lot.»
The alleged victim had previously testified that Spacey was a «sexual predator» who painfully grabbed his crotch while he was driving and tried to groom him.
Spacey admitted that he did touch him intimately but that it was consensual. He said the headline-grabbing allegation that in 2004 or 2005 he grabbed the man so hard he almost crashed a car was untrue. «No, I was never on a suicide mission in any of those years,» he said.
He added that the accusation hurt him. «I never thought that [the man] I knew… 20 years later he would stab me in the back,» he said.
Spacey also denied an allegation by another man, described in court as an aspiring actor. That whistleblower alleged he was invited to Spacey’s London apartment and drugged before he woke up to find the star performing oral sex on him.
Spacey admitted that he performed oral sex on the man, but said it was consensual.
«If I’m interested in someone, the first thing I want them to do is feel comfortable,» Spacey said.
Spacey also gave a brief recounting of his life story, his rise to stage and screen stardom and how he came to live in London in the early 2000s. He mentioned several famous friends in the course of his testimony, including Dame Judy Dench.
Spacey denies 12 counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in nonconsensual penetrative sexual activity.
The trial is expected to last at least another two weeks.
