Kevin Spacey trial: Assaults made me feel sick, says accuser in cross-examination

Summary

The second day of the trial of US actor Kevin Spacey is under way in London this morning
He is facing 12 sexual offence charges against four men, which he denies
On Monday, the jury heard one of the men calling Spacey "a slippery, snaky, difficult person" and that the alleged assaults were "almost like grooming"
The complainant tells the court during cross-examination that the alleged incidents made him feel sick
The alleged victims are now in their 30s and 40s, with the incidents said to have happened between 2001 and 2013
The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks - you can't watch it, but there will be text updates here
Warning - this page will include sexual references and may be distressing to readers

Live Reporting

Edited by Marita Moloney

'Distressing is the word I would use'published at 12:52 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
The complainant denies saying that Spacey’s actions “would get him into trouble”.
“Why would I say that when I was in shock?” the man answers.
Defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC asks if it was “a bit exciting?
“No,” the man says as Gibbs continues to ask if it was “a bit naughty”?
The man answers: “No.
“Distressing is the word I would use. I am a man’s man. I have a beautiful woman at home. Not excited at all, the opposite to exciting.”
The accuser says he was brought up to know right from wrong and knows when a line is crossed.
I was angry at Spacey flirtation, complainant sayspublished at 12:48 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
Under cross-examination, defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC asks the accuser if he was “amused” by Spacey allegedly flirting with him and touching him.
From the witness box, behind a curtain, the complainant replies: “Not at all, the opposite to amused... angry.”
Not convinced Spacey was attracted to me, accuser tells courtpublished at 12:43 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
Defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC asks about Spacey’s demeanour during the time the complainant knew him.
The man says he accepts Spacey was friendly, but queries Gibbs’ point that the actor was “jokey”.
Gibbs asks if Spacey touching him was the first time a man had touched the complainant, to which he says yes.
“How did it make you feel?” Gibbs asks.
“Shocked and horror,” the man says. “The first time that happened I was shocked and I would push my hand off of him.
Gibbs asks if it was clear to the man Spacey was “attracted” to him.
“Not 100% sure he was attracted to me,” he replies. “You don’t have to touch someone to be attracted to them.”
Spacey listens as complainant questionedpublished at 12:36 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
Kevin Spacey is listening from the dock as his defence barrister, Patrick Gibbs KC, puts questions to the complainant.
Because of the curtain drawn across the witness box, the Hollywood actor can’t see the man who has accused him of sexual offences.
The complainant can’t see Spacey either.
Spacey accuser cross-examined by defence lawyerpublished at 12:32 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
Patrick Gibbs KC, Kevin Spacey’s defence barrister, is now on his feet cross-examining the complainant and begins by asking if he is familiar with the actor’s work.
The complainant says a movie called Seven “stood out” for him.
The defence barrister asks: “Did you think he was a good actor?”
“Yes,” says the complainant.
"Do you feel he saw you?" asks Gibbs.
The complainant answers: “Yes, I would say so.”
Complainant in the witness boxpublished at 12:23 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
We’re all back in court now and prosecutor Christine Agnew KC starts by getting the complainant to confirm who he is.
She goes through parts of the jury bundle getting him to confirm a document and a photograph of him and Kevin Spacey.
A separate photograph of the man, Sir Elton John and David Furnish is also shown as part of the jury bundle.
Agnew finishes her examination.
Jury returns as complainant to give evidencepublished at 12:18 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
The judge is back in court and the jury has been brought in.
The courtroom looks a little different now that a curtain has been drawn in front of the witness box.
Only the judge, legal teams and the jury will be able to see the witness – one of the four men who accuse Spacey of sexual offences.
The actor is back in the glass dock.
Spacey's defence to question accuserpublished at 12:09 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
The video evidence of the police interview with complainant one has now finished.
The judge has told the jury that cross examination of the witness will happen next.
That’s when Kevin Spacey’s defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC will put questions to the man.
The judge has told the jury they can go and get a cup of coffee and has asked them to be back in court at 12:10.
Justice Wall also told them that the courtroom has to be set up for the witness to give evidence which will happen behind a curtain.
Recorded police interview wraps up in courtpublished at 12:01 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
The man continues by saying he now feels that, looking back, he used to be “reeled in” by Spacey who he says would get him “dinners” and “front row seats”.
The complainant adds: “He wasn’t a man who would send many text messages.
“He was trying to keep out of the limelight.”
The complainant says he doesn’t recall Spacey giving him any bruises.
After clarifying a few points, the police officer ends the interview and the jury stops watching the video.
Spacey barely taking his eyes off police interviewpublished at 11:53 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
From inside the glass dock, Kevin Spacey has barely taken his eyes off one of the television screens which are playing the police interview with complainant one.
The Hollywood actor is sitting back in his chair, glasses in one hand.
There is one dock officer sitting in the corner.
Complainant details why he decided to come forward with claimspublished at 11:47 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
“I almost felt ashamed,” the complainant says as he details the pressures on him at the time of the alleged assaults.
In the interview, the police officer asks why he decided to come forward.
“Putting it to the back of my head caused my anxiety and stress,” he answers.
“It all came out a few years ago with other people coming forward with allegations. I remember reading it at the time and felt sick.
“It is probably the right time to come forward and tell the truth. It supports the guys who have gone through similar things.”
In my head I couldn't be seen as weak, complainant tells policepublished at 11:42 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
The complainant said he would call Spacey out for his actions.
“I wasn’t quiet with him,” he explains in the police interview. “I said ‘that was wrong’.”
“I almost felt he was getting more excited by this,” he says.
“In my head I couldn’t be seen to be weak. As we all grow we get wiser.
"I was totally embarrassed to discuss it.”
'I got used to him touching my leg'published at 11:36 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
Spacey moved to an apartment near Waterloo Station so he could be closer to the Old Vic theatre, the complainant explains in his interview.
“I used to dread when he would ring me,” he tells police.
“I knew he was going to be there, he was going to be half naked if not naked and try to touch me before I leave,” he says.
“So I would make a point of ‘I’ve got to get going’. I would make my excuses to get off quickly.
“I got used to the fact he would touch my leg. That’s what he was like.”
Spacey laughed after I told him not to hit me, man allegedpublished at 11:33 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
In the police interview being played to the jury, complainant one recalls an alleged incident when he says Kevin Spacey hit him in the crotch.
“It took my breath away," the man says.
The complainant says he then told the Hollywood actor: “You can’t do that”, adding that Spacey “laughed and giggled” in response.
Complainant: I can't stand watching Spacey on screenpublished at 11:26 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
The complainant tells police in the interview that he couldn’t bring himself to watch anything Spacey starred in.
“I can’t watch House of Cards,” he says.
“I can't stand watching the man.
“It makes me feel sick thinking about that man.”
Why the complainants get anonymitypublished at 11:23 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
It’s worth remembering that the complainants in this case have a legal right to lifelong anonymity.
That’s because they are alleged victims of a sexual offence, which means by law their names cannot be published.
We also need to ensure that the information we tell you does not lead to jigsaw identification.
That’s when bits of information when pieced together can lead to someone being identified.
It means there may be some details we need to leave out from our reporting because of this.
'I never signed up for this'published at 11:18 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
“That was his way, he was a bit touchy feely,” the man continues in his interview, as he adds he would tell the actor “that’s enough Kevin”.
“I used to dread when he was coming back,” the complainant says.
“My heart used to sink,” jurors hear. “I never signed up for this...being touched up by Kevin Spacey".
The man describes again moments of Spacey touching him or grabbing his hand to put on his genitalia.
“I used to call him a weirdo,” the complainant said. “He used to find it funny.”
Spacey groomed me 'right from the get go', complainant claimspublished at 11:17 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
“Two or three weeks after first meeting Kevin Spacey he started to make me uncomfortable”, the complainant said to police.
“He was always switching conversations, wanting to know more about you. Ninety percent me in conversations and 10% him,” jurors hear.
“Right from the get go I would say he was grooming me,” the man says in his interview.
Weeks later, Spacey would rub his legs, the man tells police in his interview.
“It would be really awkward for me,” the complainant says.
What Spacey is accused of by the first complainantpublished at 11:13 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Helena Wilkinson
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
Kevin Spacey faces seven charges in relation to complainant one, whose interview with police is currently being played to court. They are:
- Three sexual assault charges
- Three indecent assault charges
- One causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent
These offences are alleged to have been committed by Spacey in the 2000s.
Complainant: People told at London theatre to be carefulpublished at 11:08 British Summer Time 3 July 2023
Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from Southwark Crown Court
More from the complainant’s interview as he finishes up summarising to police what he says happened to him.
He says people at the Old Vic Theatre, where Spacey was employed as director between 2004 and 2015, were told to “be careful”.
“It was known at the Old Vic Theatre,” the complainant said.
“These little comments which would go on, people would say be careful.
“It was well known he was up to no good, so to speak.”