A
London
jury
acquitted
Kevin
Spacey
on
sexual
assault
charges
on
Wednesday
after
a
four-week
trial
in
which
the
actor
said
he
was
a
"big
flirt" who
had
consensual
flings
with
men
and
whose
only
misstep
was
touching
a
man's
groin
while
making
a
"clumsy
pass."
Three
men
accused
the
Oscar
winner
of
aggressively
grabbing
their
crotches.
A
fourth,
an
aspiring
actor
seeking
mentorship,
said
he
awoke
to
the
actor
performing
oral
sex
on
him
after
going
to
Spacey's
London
apartment
for
a
beer
and
either
falling
asleep
or
passing
out.
All
the
men
said
the
contact
was
unwanted
but
Spacey
testified
that
the
young
actor
and
another
man
had
willingly
participated
in
consensual
acts.
He
said
a
third
man's
allegation
that
he
grabbed
his
privates
like
a
striking
"cobra"
backstage
at
a
theatre
was
"pure
fantasy."
He
said
he
didn't
remember
a
fourth
incident
at
a
small
party
at
a
home
he
rented
in
the
country
but
accepted
that
he
touched
the
groin
of
a
man
he
had
met
at
a
pub
during
a
night
of
heavy
drinking.
He
said
he
had
misread
the
man's
interest
in
him
and
said
he
had
probably
made
an
awkward
pass.
Defence
lawyer
Patrick
Gibbs
said
three
of
the
men
were
liars
and
incidents
had
been
"reimagined
with
a
sinister
spin."
He
accused
most
of
them
of
hopping
on
a
"bandwagon"
of
complaints
in
the
hope
of
striking
it
rich.
Prosecutor
Christine
Agnew
told
jurors
that
Spacey
was
a
"sexual
bully"
who
took
what
he
wanted
when
he
wanted.
She
said
he
was
shielded
by
a
"trinity
of
protection":
he
knew
men
were
unlikely
to
complain;
they
wouldn't
be
believed
if
they
did
complain;
and
if
they
did
complain,
no
action
would
be
taken
because
he
was
powerful.
Spacey,
who
turned
64
on
Wednesday,
faced
nine
charges,
including
multiple
counts
of
sexual
assault
and
one
count
of
causing
a
person
to
engage
in
penetrative
sexual
activity
without
consent.
The
accusations
date
from
2001
to
2013
and
include
a
period
when
Spacey
-
after
winning
Academy
Awards
for
"The
Usual
Suspects"
and
"American
Beauty"
-
had
returned
to
the
theatre,
his
first
love.
During
most
of
that
period
he
was
artistic
director
of
the
Old
Vic
Theatre
in
London.
The
men
came
forward
after
an
American
actor
accused
Spacey
of
an
incident
of
sexual
misconduct
as
the
#MeToo
movement
heated
up
in
2017.
Several
of
the
men
said
they
had
been
haunted
by
the
abuse
and
couldn't
bear
to
watch
Spacey's
films.
One
of
the
men
broke
down
when
speaking
with
police
as
he
provided
details
in
a
videotaped
interview
about
the
oral
sex
incident
that
he
said
he'd
never
told
anyone
before.
Another
man
said
he
was
angry
about
the
abuse
that
occurred
sporadically
over
several
years
and
began
to
drink
and
work
out
more
to
cope
with
it.
Spacey
choked
up
and
became
teary
eyed
in
the
witness
box
as
he
described
the
emotional
and
financial
turmoil
that
the
US
accusations
brought
and
the
barrage
of
criticism
that
followed
on
social
media.
"My
world
exploded,"
Spacey
testified.
"There
was
a
rush
to
judgment
and
before
the
first
question
was
asked
or
answered
I
lost
my
job,
I
lost
my
reputation,
I
lost
everything
in
a
matter
of
days."
Gibbs
said
Spacey
was
being
"monstered"
on
the
internet
every
night
and
became
toxic
in
the
industry.
Spacey
was
booted
from
"House
of
Cards"
and
his
scenes
in
"All
the
Money
in
the
World,"
were
scrubbed
and
he
was
replaced
by
Christopher
Plummer.
Aside
from
some
small
projects,
he
has
barely
worked
as
an
actor
in
six
years.
A
New
York
jury
last
year
swiftly
cleared
Spacey
in
a
$40
million
lawsuit
by
"Star
Trek:
Discovery"
actor
Anthony
Rapp
on
allegations
dating
back
three
decades.
Spacey
had
viewed
the
London
case
as
a
chance
for
redemption,
telling
German
magazine
Zeit
last
month
that
there
were
"people
right
now
who
are
ready
to
hire
me
the
moment
I
am
cleared
of
these
charges
in
London."