Kevin Spacey timeline: How the story unfolded

Allegations made against Kevin Spacey have seen the US actor's life, career and conduct come under intense scrutiny.

Here is a summary of the main events so far:

Monday 30 October 2017

• In an interview with Buzzfeed News, actor Anthony Rapp claims Spacey made a sexual advance towards him when Rapp was 14. Rapp, now 46, claims Spacey laid on top of him at a party at the actor's apartment in 1986 and alleges the star "was trying to seduce" him.

• In a statement, Spacey claims to have no memory of the alleged incident while offering an apology to Rapp "for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour". In the same Twitter post, Spacey says he has had relationships with both men and women and that he "choose[s] now to live as a gay man".

• Spacey is criticised by Sue Perkins, Zachary Quinto and others for choosing this moment to "come out". "He doesn't get a pass just because he's gay," Gay Times editor Josh Rivers tells the BBC.

• Netflix, the network behind Spacey's House of Cards drama, says it is "deeply troubled" by the reports. It is reported the subscription service intends to axe the drama after its sixth series, currently in production in Baltimore.

• The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announces it will no longer give Spacey a special Emmy award on 20 November "in light of recent events".

Tuesday 31 October 2017

• The Old Vic in London, where Spacey was artistic director from 2004 to 2015, says it is "deeply dismayed" to hear the allegations and sets up a confidential complaints process for people involved with the theatre.

• Mexican actor Roberto Cavazos claims he had "a couple of nasty encounters" with Spacey while working at the Old Vic "that were on the verge of being called harassment".

• Netflix announces it has suspended production on the sixth series of House of Cards "to give us time to review the current situation and to address any concerns of our cast and crew".

• In an interview with Radar Online, US film-maker Tony Montana claims he was "forcefully" groped by Spacey in a Los Angeles bar in 2003.

Wednesday 1 November 2017

• A man claims he woke up to find Spacey lying on him while staying at his New York home in the mid-1980s. The man, who was 17 at the time, makes his claims on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme.

• A British man claims Spacey exposed himself to him in 2010 when he was working at a hotel in West Sussex. Former bartender Daniel Beal tells The Sun Spacey allegedly exposed himself and then invited the 19-year-old up to his room. Beal claims the actor later gave him a watch worth £5,000.

• Spacey's publicist, Staci Wolfe, issues a statement saying the actor "is taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment".

Thursday 2 November 2017

• Media Rights Capital, co-producer of House of Cards, reveals a crew member complained about "a specific remark and gesture" made by Spacey in 2012. In a statement, it says the actor "willingly participated in a training process" and that the issue was resolved "to the satisfaction of all involved".

• CAA (Creative Artists Agency) confirm Spacey is no longer a client. Publicist Staci Wolfe also confirms he is no longer represented by her company, Polaris PR.

• The Old Vic says it is "already seeing the great benefits of the new policy of openness" since establishing a "confidential line of communication" for employees with concerns.

Friday 3 November 2017

• It is reported that Spacey is being investigated by UK police over an alleged sexual assault on a man in 2008. The Sun claims an unnamed actor, who was 23 at the time, woke up to find Spacey performing a sex act on him at the star's London home.

• Netflix announces it will "not be involved with any further production of House of Cards that includes Kevin Spacey". It also says it will no longer release Gore, a film about the writer Gore Vidal in which Spacey stars.

• CNN alleges that Spacey's behaviour made the House of Cards set a "toxic" work environment. It quotes a number of former and current workers on the show, one of whom accuses the actor of sexual assault.

Saturday 4 November 2017

• The son of actor Richard Dreyfuss claims Spacey groped him in 2008 in his father's presence. Harry Dreyfuss tells Buzzfeed News his father did not see the alleged incident.

• In the same article, Buzzfeed News quotes a lawyer representing Spacey who says he "absolutely denies the allegations".

Sunday 5 November 2017

• Speaking to The Sun, barman Kris Nixon claims Spacey groped him at a party held in the actor's London apartment in 2008. Nixon accuses Spacey of pestering him again one week later at his place of work.

Wednesday 8 November 2017

• New allegations emerge, including from an American film-maker who says he was groped and sexually harassed by Spacey as a 22-year-old crew member.

Thursday 9 November 2017

• It is announced that Spacey is to be removed from a forthcoming film, All the Money in the World, which has already been shot. He will be replaced by Christopher Plummer in the role of late oil tycoon John Paul Getty.

Thursday 16 November 2017

• An investigation by the Old Vic Theatre concludes they have received 20 personal testimonies of alleged inappropriate behaviour by Spacey during his 11-year tenure as artistic director.

• Out of the 20 individual allegations, 16 have been made by former staff, all of whom are men.

• With the exception of one of the claims, none of the reported incidents was raised formally or informally with management.

• Three people told the Old Vic they have contacted the police, with all except two testimonies predating 2009, and all of them being alleged to have taken place between 1995 to 2013.

• The theatre said it "truly apologises for not creating an environment or culture where people felt able to speak freely" and will "commit to a new way forward".

• An accountancy firm in Manchester says a large mural of Kevin Spacey will be removed from the side of its office building.

Monday 20 November 2017

• Singer Morrissey is criticised for saying Kevin Spacey has been "attacked unnecessarily".

Wednesday 22 November 2017

• Scotland Yard confirms it is investigating a new allegation of sexual assault made against Kevin Spacey. The claim alleges an assault took place on a man in Lambeth in 2005.

Monday 4 December 2017

• Netflix confirms the sixth season of House of Cards will resume production in 2018 without Spacey. The chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, says the final series will comprise eight episodes and focus on Robin Wright's character.

Friday 8 December 2017

• The King of Norway's former son-in-law accuses Spacey of sexual harassment after a Nobel Peace Prize concert in 2007.

Tuesday 12 December 2017

• Morrissey denies he defended Kevin Spacey in an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel. "Would I ever support Kevin Spacey's private proclivities? No never," he says in a statement. The paper subsequently makes public a recording of the interview that appears to support the way in which his comments were reported.

Thursday 18 January 2018

• It emerges that police in London are investigating a third allegation of sexual assault against Kevin Spacey. The claim, received on 13 December, alleges a man was assaulted by the actor in central London in 2005.

Thursday 12 April 2018

• Prosecutors in Los Angeles review a historical sexual assault accusation against actor Kevin Spacey, officials confirm.

• Police file evidence about an allegation involving an incident with a man in West Hollywood in 1992. He has previously issued an "absolute" denial of historical allegations since the Anthony Rapp accusation came to light.

Wednesday 5 September 2018

• It is announced that Spacey will not be prosecuted over an accusation of sexual assault that allegedly took place in 1992.

• The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office says the alleged incident was outside California's statute of limitations.

Monday 24 December 2018

• US actor Kevin Spacey is charged with sexually assaulting a teenager at a bar in Massachusetts in 2016.

• He posts a video in which he appears to deny any wrongdoing while in character as Frank Underwood from House of Cards.

Monday 7 January 2019

• Spacey appears in court to face a charge of indecent assault and battery stemming from an allegation of groping in 2016.

• A not-guilty plea was entered on the two-time Oscar winner's behalf, reports the Boston Globe, during the hearing in the US state of Massachusetts.

Wednesday 26 June 2019

• Spacey's accuser in the 2016 Nantucket groping case sues the actor for unspecified damages over his alleged "explicit sexual behaviour and lewd and lascivious conduct" at The Club Car restaurant.

• The lawsuit states Spacey bought the man, then 18, alcoholic drinks and groped his genitals without his consent. Spacey continues to deny the allegations.

Friday 5 July 2019

• It is revealed that Spacey's accuser has dropped the civil action he filed against the actor over his alleged "explicit sexual behaviour" in 2016.

• The alleged victim's lawyer says his client filed papers on 3 July to dismiss the suit voluntarily. The case is dismissed with prejudice, meaning Spacey's accuser cannot refile the case later.

Saturday 6 July 2019

• Variety magazine reports Spacey was questioned in May in the US by London's Metropolitan Police over sex assault allegations in the UK.

• The Met says a man was voluntarily interviewed under caution by the force's Complex Case Team. They say he was not arrested, and that inquiries are ongoing.

Wednesday 17 July 2019

• Prosecutors in Massachusetts drop the criminal case relating to charges of indecent assault and battery, which stemmed from the accusation Spacey groped an 18-year-old man at a bar in 2016.

• The charges are dropped after the accuser refuses to testify about a missing phone. The actor's lawyers accuse the man of deleting crucial text messages and say the phone could be used to prove their client's innocence.

Kevin Spacey biography

Born in New Jersey in 1959, Spacey studied at New York's prestigious Juilliard School and made his professional stage debut in 1981.

He went on to appear with Jack Lemmon on Broadway in Long Day's Journey into Night and won a Tony in 1991 for his work in Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers.

The following year he appeared with Lemmon in the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross. More high-profile roles followed, one of which - in 1995's The Usual Suspects - won him an Academy Award.

Spacey with the Oscar he won at the 2000 Academy Awards

His performance in American Beauty brought him another Oscar in 2000, by which time he had made his first film as a director.

In 2004 Spacey became artistic director of the Old Vic in London. During his 11-year tenure, he directed and acted in numerous productions there.

In 2015 he received an honorary knighthood and a special Olivier award for his contributions to British theatre.

Spacey earned further acclaim for playing Francis Underwood in House of Cards, Netflix's adaptation of Michael Dobbs's political novel.

In 2017, he hosted the Tony awards in New York, during which he made comic capital about the rumours regarding his sexuality.

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