London –
Two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, whose illustrious acting career was derailed by sexual assault allegations, will stand trial in London this week for sex crimes against four British men.
What crime is he accused of?
The 63-year-old Spacey faces more than a dozen counts, including sexual assault, lewd assault and perpetual sexual acts without consent.
The actor, who was charged under his full name Kevin Spacey Fowler, has pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts related to the incident, which allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013.
At an earlier hearing, Spacey’s attorney said Spacey “strongly denies” the allegations. Lawyers said Spacey intends to prove her innocence and she intends to appear in a British court to “get on with her life”.
His trial by a jury at Southwark Crown Court began Wednesday and is expected to last four weeks.
Why are trials held in the UK?
Spacey has lived in the UK for over ten years and was Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre, from 2004 to 2015. He was a prominent figure in London, starring in such works as William Shakespeare’s Richard III and David Mamet’s Speed. -the-Plow” and hosted a star-studded fundraising event for the 200-year-old venue.
Spacey was questioned by British police in 2019 over allegations by several men of assault. He was indicted in May 2022 on five counts against three alleged victims. Seven more charges were added in November, all against a fourth man.
Spacey has domiciles in the United Kingdom and the United States and is on unconditional bail pending trial.
What is the future of Spacey?
Since the 1990s, Spacey has become one of the most famous actors of his generation, starring in films such as Glengarry Glen Ross and LA Confidential. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1995 film The Usual Suspects and Best Actor for the 1999 film American Beauty.
After allegations surfaced in the United States amid the growing .MeToo movement, Spacey was either fired or removed from the project. He is most famous for the Netflix political thriller House of Cards, in which he played the power-hungry Congressman protagonist Frank Underwood for five seasons. who will be president It was cut from the finished film, All the Money in the World, and the scene was reshot with Christopher Plummer.
Spacey affirms that his career is not over. She made her first film appearance in several years in Italian director Franco Nero’s The Man Who Painted God, and also starred in the unreleased US film Peter Five-Eight.
In January he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Italian National Cinema Museum in Turin. He also taught a masterclass and introduced a sold-out screening of “American Beauty,” touted as Spacey’s first public speaking event in five years.
Spacey paid tribute to the organizers for “strongly defending artistic achievement” and for inviting “Le Palais” (Italian for male body part, synonymous with courage). .
In a rare interview these days, he told Germany’s Zeit magazine that the media had made him a “monster”. But he said, “There are people now ready to hire me in London as soon as I am cleared of these charges.”
