News Analysis India

Tag: Kevin Spacey

  • Jury acquits Kevin Spacey in London on sexual assault charges dating back to 2001

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: 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 theater was “pure fantasy.”

    LONDON: 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 theater was “pure fantasy.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

  • Prosecutor says Kevin Spacey used celebrity status for ‘opportunity grab’ described by accusers

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: It was more than a coincidence that three of Kevin Spacey’s four accusers described similar crotch-grabbing incidents, a prosecutor said Wednesday in her closing argument at his sexual assault trial.

    Prosecutor Christine Agnew told a London jury that Spacey seized brief moments for an “opportunity grab” and was able to get away with it for years because he was a celebrity.

    The two-time Oscar winner long had benefited from a “trinity of protection,” knowing that men he attacked would not complain. If they did, he knew they wouldn’t be believed; if they were believed, he knew authorities wouldn’t take action because of his status, Agnew said.

    That began to change after allegations in the U.S. arose in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement when a fellow American actor accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior decades earlier. Other allegations followed and eventually led the four men, who did not know each other, to independently complain to the English police.

    “Are they all motivated by ‘money, money, money’ as you were told rather dramatically by the defendant?” Agnew said in quoting a snippet of Spacey’s testimony. “Or have they all just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years? They’re no longer prepared to be the secret keeper of someone who treated them so badly.”

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. Originally he had faced 13 charges but the judge on Wednesday removed four counts that duplicated the same allegations under an older statute.

    The actor testified over two days and denied sexually assaulting three men. He said he had consensual encounters with two and downplayed crotch-grabbing allegations by a third man as a “clumsy pass.” He said allegations he made racially insensitive remarks to a fourth man and violently grabbed his private parts like a striking cobra were “pure fantasy.”

    The acts alleged between 2001 and 2013 escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch-grabbing and, in one instance, performing an oral sex act on an unconscious man.

    The defense has cast doubt on the accounts of the accusers and suggested they were motivated by money. Two of the men have filed lawsuits against Spacey and a third man reached out through Spacey’s website seeking to settle the criminal case.

    Spacey presented photos one of the men had posted on social media of the two of them and a photo that man sent him from a mountain trek he took where he claimed to have read a Shakespeare soliloquy at Spacey’s suggestion from atop a peak.

    Other defense witnesses said Spacey would have had little or no opportunity to assault a man backstage at a charity event, as the alleged victim claimed.

    LONDON: It was more than a coincidence that three of Kevin Spacey’s four accusers described similar crotch-grabbing incidents, a prosecutor said Wednesday in her closing argument at his sexual assault trial.

    Prosecutor Christine Agnew told a London jury that Spacey seized brief moments for an “opportunity grab” and was able to get away with it for years because he was a celebrity.

    The two-time Oscar winner long had benefited from a “trinity of protection,” knowing that men he attacked would not complain. If they did, he knew they wouldn’t be believed; if they were believed, he knew authorities wouldn’t take action because of his status, Agnew said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    That began to change after allegations in the U.S. arose in 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement when a fellow American actor accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior decades earlier. Other allegations followed and eventually led the four men, who did not know each other, to independently complain to the English police.

    “Are they all motivated by ‘money, money, money’ as you were told rather dramatically by the defendant?” Agnew said in quoting a snippet of Spacey’s testimony. “Or have they all just had enough of the secret of the truth that they have been carrying around for many years? They’re no longer prepared to be the secret keeper of someone who treated them so badly.”

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of sexual and indecent assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. Originally he had faced 13 charges but the judge on Wednesday removed four counts that duplicated the same allegations under an older statute.

    The actor testified over two days and denied sexually assaulting three men. He said he had consensual encounters with two and downplayed crotch-grabbing allegations by a third man as a “clumsy pass.” He said allegations he made racially insensitive remarks to a fourth man and violently grabbed his private parts like a striking cobra were “pure fantasy.”

    The acts alleged between 2001 and 2013 escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive crotch-grabbing and, in one instance, performing an oral sex act on an unconscious man.

    The defense has cast doubt on the accounts of the accusers and suggested they were motivated by money. Two of the men have filed lawsuits against Spacey and a third man reached out through Spacey’s website seeking to settle the criminal case.

    Spacey presented photos one of the men had posted on social media of the two of them and a photo that man sent him from a mountain trek he took where he claimed to have read a Shakespeare soliloquy at Spacey’s suggestion from atop a peak.

    Other defense witnesses said Spacey would have had little or no opportunity to assault a man backstage at a charity event, as the alleged victim claimed.

  • Elton John testifies for defence in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: Elton John testified Monday for the defence in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial.

    John appeared remotely from Monaco to testify after his husband, David Furnish, said Spacey only once attended the annual gala the singer held at his Windsor home.

    One of the alleged victims accused Spacey of aggressively grabbing his crotch while he was driving with him to the ball in 2004 or 2005.

    Spacey testified that he only attended the event in 2001. Furnish testified earlier that he had checked photographs and that was the only year Spacey attended.

    John said Spacey spent the night at the house after the ball the one time he attended.

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

    LONDON: Elton John testified Monday for the defence in Kevin Spacey’s sexual assault trial.

    John appeared remotely from Monaco to testify after his husband, David Furnish, said Spacey only once attended the annual gala the singer held at his Windsor home.

    One of the alleged victims accused Spacey of aggressively grabbing his crotch while he was driving with him to the ball in 2004 or 2005.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Spacey testified that he only attended the event in 2001. Furnish testified earlier that he had checked photographs and that was the only year Spacey attended.

    John said Spacey spent the night at the house after the ball the one time he attended.

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

  • Prosecutors rest sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey in London court

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: Prosecutors rested their sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey in a London courtroom Wednesday after four men testified in the past two weeks that the Oscar winner preyed on them.

    Prosecutors read jurors statements Spacey gave investigators denying that he aggressively grabbed three men by the crotch and performed a nonconsensual sex act on a fourth.

    The defence is scheduled to begin presenting its case Thursday in Southwark Crown Court. The stakes are high, with Spacey facing a possible prison term if convicted.

    The 63-year-old American actor has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

    The allegations date from 2001 to 2003 when Spacey was working at the Old Vic Theatre.

    None of the alleged victims knew each other but each testified that they went to police after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct in the U.S. in 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained momentum.

    The accusations at the time crippled Spacey’s once-stellar career. He won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.” He was fired from the TV series “House of Cards” and most of his work dried up.

    ALSO READ | Prosecutor says Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is ‘a sexual bully’ who preys on men

    Three of the men said Spacey had a reputation of being drawn to good-looking young men and one said he had been warned to avoid him.

    “It was well known he was up to no good,” the man testified.

    One man said Spacey made racially offensive remarks to him and then ” like a cobra coming out and getting hold,” grabbed his penis when they were alone backstage at a charity event.

    An aspiring actor who reached out to Spacey for advice said he regretted meeting up with him for a late-night drink. He said he ended up at Spacey’s flat near Waterloo station and — after falling asleep or passing out — woke up with the star performing oral sex on him.

    A fourth man who had gone out for a night of heavy drinking with the actor said Spacey later gave him an awkward hug and kissed his neck before grabbing his crotch.

    ALSO READ | Actor Kevin Spacey faces trial in London over sexual assault cases

    Spacey denied doing anything nonconsensual and said he didn’t remember meeting two of the men.

    Spacey told police last year that the fourth man who came forward had “reimagined” their time together and concocted false allegations.

    Defense lawyer Patrick Gibbs suggested the men were motivated by money. Several of them have filed lawsuits against the star and one testified that an American lawyer had said he could win him $10 million.

    Gibbs suggested witnesses were lying, that one of the men had obstructed the investigation by resisting efforts to let officers view phone data and social media accounts and that some of the men were later ashamed of what they’d consensually done with Spacey.

    Spacey, who owns homes in London and the U.S., is free on unconditional bail.

    LONDON: Prosecutors rested their sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey in a London courtroom Wednesday after four men testified in the past two weeks that the Oscar winner preyed on them.

    Prosecutors read jurors statements Spacey gave investigators denying that he aggressively grabbed three men by the crotch and performed a nonconsensual sex act on a fourth.

    The defence is scheduled to begin presenting its case Thursday in Southwark Crown Court. The stakes are high, with Spacey facing a possible prison term if convicted.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The 63-year-old American actor has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

    The allegations date from 2001 to 2003 when Spacey was working at the Old Vic Theatre.

    None of the alleged victims knew each other but each testified that they went to police after Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct in the U.S. in 2017 as the #MeToo movement gained momentum.

    The accusations at the time crippled Spacey’s once-stellar career. He won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.” He was fired from the TV series “House of Cards” and most of his work dried up.

    ALSO READ | Prosecutor says Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is ‘a sexual bully’ who preys on men

    Three of the men said Spacey had a reputation of being drawn to good-looking young men and one said he had been warned to avoid him.

    “It was well known he was up to no good,” the man testified.

    One man said Spacey made racially offensive remarks to him and then ” like a cobra coming out and getting hold,” grabbed his penis when they were alone backstage at a charity event.

    An aspiring actor who reached out to Spacey for advice said he regretted meeting up with him for a late-night drink. He said he ended up at Spacey’s flat near Waterloo station and — after falling asleep or passing out — woke up with the star performing oral sex on him.

    A fourth man who had gone out for a night of heavy drinking with the actor said Spacey later gave him an awkward hug and kissed his neck before grabbing his crotch.

    ALSO READ | Actor Kevin Spacey faces trial in London over sexual assault cases

    Spacey denied doing anything nonconsensual and said he didn’t remember meeting two of the men.

    Spacey told police last year that the fourth man who came forward had “reimagined” their time together and concocted false allegations.

    Defense lawyer Patrick Gibbs suggested the men were motivated by money. Several of them have filed lawsuits against the star and one testified that an American lawyer had said he could win him $10 million.

    Gibbs suggested witnesses were lying, that one of the men had obstructed the investigation by resisting efforts to let officers view phone data and social media accounts and that some of the men were later ashamed of what they’d consensually done with Spacey.

    Spacey, who owns homes in London and the U.S., is free on unconditional bail.

  • Actor Kevin Spacey faces trial in London over sexual assault cases

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: Two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey is going on trial Wednesday in a London court on charges of sexually assaulting four men as long as two decades ago.

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges including sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

    He could face a prison sentence if convicted.

    Spacey has said an acquittal in the case could revive a career that has largely been on ice since sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against the star who won his first Academy Award for a supporting actor in “The Usual Suspects” in 1995.

    “There are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London,” Spacey said in a rare interview published this month in Germany’s Zeit magazine.

    He said the media had turned him into a “monster.”

    The charges involving men now in their 30s or 40s date from 2001 to 2013 – covering most of the decade when he lived in Britain and served as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre until 2015.

    The jury trial in Southwark Crown Court is scheduled to last four weeks.

    ALSO READ | Kevin Spacey ‘confident’ he can clear his name

    The actor – charged under his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler – is free on bail.

    Spacey’s downfall came amid the #MeToo movement in the United States when allegations led to him being written off the Netflix political thriller “House of Cards”, where he played the lead character Frank Underwood, a ruthless and corrupt congressional representative who becomes president.

    He was cut from the completed film “All the Money in the World”, and the scenes reshot with Christopher Plummer.

    Spacey became one of the most celebrated actors of his generation in the 1990s, starring in films including “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “LA Confidential”.

    He won his second Oscar, for Best Actor, in the 1999 movie “American Beauty”.

    Spacey recently had his first film role in several years, appearing in 2022 in Italian director Franco Nero’s “The Man Who Drew God”, and playing the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in the biopic “Once Upon a Time in Croatia”.

    He also stars in the unreleased US film “Peter Five Eight”.

    Italy’s National Cinema Museum in Turin gave him its lifetime achievement award in January.

    He also taught a masterclass and introduced a sold-out screening of “American Beauty” in what was billed as Spacey’s first speaking engagement in five years.

    LONDON: Two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey is going on trial Wednesday in a London court on charges of sexually assaulting four men as long as two decades ago.

    Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges including sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

    He could face a prison sentence if convicted.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Spacey has said an acquittal in the case could revive a career that has largely been on ice since sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against the star who won his first Academy Award for a supporting actor in “The Usual Suspects” in 1995.

    “There are people right now who are ready to hire me the moment I am cleared of these charges in London,” Spacey said in a rare interview published this month in Germany’s Zeit magazine.

    He said the media had turned him into a “monster.”

    The charges involving men now in their 30s or 40s date from 2001 to 2013 – covering most of the decade when he lived in Britain and served as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre until 2015.

    The jury trial in Southwark Crown Court is scheduled to last four weeks.

    ALSO READ | Kevin Spacey ‘confident’ he can clear his name

    The actor – charged under his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler – is free on bail.

    Spacey’s downfall came amid the #MeToo movement in the United States when allegations led to him being written off the Netflix political thriller “House of Cards”, where he played the lead character Frank Underwood, a ruthless and corrupt congressional representative who becomes president.

    He was cut from the completed film “All the Money in the World”, and the scenes reshot with Christopher Plummer.

    Spacey became one of the most celebrated actors of his generation in the 1990s, starring in films including “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “LA Confidential”.

    He won his second Oscar, for Best Actor, in the 1999 movie “American Beauty”.

    Spacey recently had his first film role in several years, appearing in 2022 in Italian director Franco Nero’s “The Man Who Drew God”, and playing the late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman in the biopic “Once Upon a Time in Croatia”.

    He also stars in the unreleased US film “Peter Five Eight”.

    Italy’s National Cinema Museum in Turin gave him its lifetime achievement award in January.

    He also taught a masterclass and introduced a sold-out screening of “American Beauty” in what was billed as Spacey’s first speaking engagement in five years.

  • Kevin Spacey due in UK court on new sex offence charges

    By AFP

    LONDON: Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey was due in court in London on Friday to face seven new sexual offence charges.

    Prosecutors announced last month they had authorised additional charges against “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty” star.

    In July, Spacey, 63, pleaded not guilty to five similar charges against three men between 2005 and 2013 in London and Gloucestershire, western England.

    The latest allegations will be formally put to him at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London from 1400 GMT, a court official told AFP.

    They are three charges of indecent assault, three of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

    Prosecutors said they related to one man and were allegedly committed between 2001 and 2004.

    None of the alleged victims can be identified under English law. Reporting restrictions prevent further details from being disclosed before trial.

    Spacey, who was artistic director at London’s Old Vic Theatre between 2004 and 2015, in October saw a New York court dismiss a $40 million sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him.

    Anthony Rapp alleged the star targeted him when he was 14. But a judge ruled he had brought the case too late for a criminal charge.

    Spacey’s acting career ended five years ago when the claims surfaced and he was dropped from the final season of the political drama “House of Cards” and other projects.

    Claims against the actor emerged in the wake of the #MeToo movement of sexual assault and harassment in the movie industry.

    In 2019, charges of indecent and sexual assault were dropped against him in Massachusetts, in the US northeast.

    Spacey has always denied allegations of sexual abuse.

    LONDON: Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey was due in court in London on Friday to face seven new sexual offence charges.

    Prosecutors announced last month they had authorised additional charges against “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty” star.

    In July, Spacey, 63, pleaded not guilty to five similar charges against three men between 2005 and 2013 in London and Gloucestershire, western England.

    The latest allegations will be formally put to him at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London from 1400 GMT, a court official told AFP.

    They are three charges of indecent assault, three of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

    Prosecutors said they related to one man and were allegedly committed between 2001 and 2004.

    None of the alleged victims can be identified under English law. Reporting restrictions prevent further details from being disclosed before trial.

    Spacey, who was artistic director at London’s Old Vic Theatre between 2004 and 2015, in October saw a New York court dismiss a $40 million sexual misconduct lawsuit brought against him.

    Anthony Rapp alleged the star targeted him when he was 14. But a judge ruled he had brought the case too late for a criminal charge.

    Spacey’s acting career ended five years ago when the claims surfaced and he was dropped from the final season of the political drama “House of Cards” and other projects.

    Claims against the actor emerged in the wake of the #MeToo movement of sexual assault and harassment in the movie industry.

    In 2019, charges of indecent and sexual assault were dropped against him in Massachusetts, in the US northeast.

    Spacey has always denied allegations of sexual abuse.

  • In a #MeToo moment, Hollywood figures face season of trials

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: The #MeToo movement is having another moment in the spotlight as high-profile sexual assault trials play out in courtrooms from coast to coast.

    Five years after allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein triggered a wave of sexual misconduct claims in Hollywood and beyond, he and “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson are fighting criminal rape charges at trials down the hall from each other in Los Angeles.

    In New York, trials are underway in sexual assault lawsuits against actor Kevin Spacey and screenwriter-director Paul Haggis, both Oscar winners. Spacey’s defence rested Wednesday while lawyers for Haggis and his accuser gave opening statements in an adjacent courthouse. All of the men deny the allegations.

    A forcible touching case against another Academy Award winner, actor Cuba Gooding Jr., wrapped up in New York last week with a guilty plea to a non-criminal harassment violation and no jail time, to the dismay of at least some of his accusers.

    The confluence is a coincidence, but a striking one, amid a cultural movement that has demanded visibility and accountability.

    “We’re still very early on in this time of reckoning,” said Debra Katz, a Washington-based lawyer who has represented many sexual assault accusers. She isn’t involved in the Haggis, Masterson, Spacey or Weinstein trials.

    Besides their #MeToo reverberations, both Haggis’ case and Masterson’s have become forums for scrutinizing the Church of Scientology, though from different perspectives.

    In the case against Haggis, publicist Haleigh Breest claims that the “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter forced her to perform oral sex and raped her after she reluctantly agreed to a drink in his Manhattan apartment after a 2013 movie premiere. She’s seeking unspecified damages.

    She didn’t go public until after the allegations against Weinstein burst into view in 2017 and Haggis condemned him.

    “The hypocrisy of it made her blood boil,” lawyer Zoe Salzman said in her opening statement.

    Jurors will also hear from four other women who told Breest’s lawyers that Haggis sexually assaulted them, or attempted to do so, in separate encounters. One of them testified Wednesday, via videotaped questioning, that Haggis raped her during an after-hours meeting in her office in 1996 when both worked on a Canadian TV show.

    The jury won’t hear, however, that Italian authorities this summer investigated a sexual assault allegation against Haggis, which he denied.

    Haggis maintains that his encounter with Breest was consensual, and defence attorney Priya Chaudhry noted that the other women who are set to testify never took legal action of their own against him.

    “Paul Haggis is relieved that he finally gets his day in court,” Chaudhry told jurors.

    Both sides pointed to what Breest texted to a friend the day after the alleged attack.

    Her lawyer emphasized that Breest wrote that “he was so rough and aggressive. Never, ever again … And I kept saying no.” Haggis’ attorney, meanwhile, said Breest added “lol” — common texting shorthand for laughter — when she mentioned performing oral sex, and that she told the friend she wanted to be alone with Haggis again to “see what happens.”

    Chaudhry argued that Breest falsely claimed rape to angle for a payout. But the attorney also suggested another explanation for the allegations.

    Promising “circumstantial evidence,” she suggested that Scientologists ginned up Breest’s lawsuit to discredit him after he became a prominent detractor.

    The church denies any involvement, and Breest’s lawyers have called the notion a baseless conspiracy theory.

    “Scientology has nothing to do with this case” or with any of Haggis’ accusers, she told jurors. The church has said the same.

    Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals focused on spiritual betterment. Science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 book “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” is a foundational text.

    The religion has gained a following among such celebrities as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. But some high-profile members have broken with it, including Haggis, singer Lisa Marie Presley and actor Leah Remini.

    In a memoir and documentary series, Remini said the church uses manipulative and abusive tactics to indoctrinate followers into putting its goals above all else, and she maintained that it worked to discredit critics who spoke out.

    The church has vociferously disputed the claims.

    Haggis says he was a Scientologist for three decades before leaving the church in 2009. He slammed it as “a cult” in a 2011 New Yorker article that later informed a book and an HBO documentary, and he foreshadowed that retribution would come in the form of “a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.”

    The church, which didn’t respond to a request for comment this week, has repeatedly said Haggis lied about its practices to get attention for himself and his career.

    Masterson’s lawyer, meanwhile, is asking jurors to disregard the actor’s affiliation with Scientology, though prosecutors say the church discouraged two of his three accusers from going to authorities. All three are former members.

    Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday in a $40 million lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp who says Spacey made a sexual pass at him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey denies the encounter ever happened.

    Weinstein is facing his second criminal trial, this time set in L.A. and involving five women and multiple rapes and sexual assault charges. He is already serving a 23-year prison sentence on a rape and sexual assault conviction involving two women in New York.

    The Associated Press does not usually name people alleging sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Breest and Rapp have done.

    NEW YORK: The #MeToo movement is having another moment in the spotlight as high-profile sexual assault trials play out in courtrooms from coast to coast.

    Five years after allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein triggered a wave of sexual misconduct claims in Hollywood and beyond, he and “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson are fighting criminal rape charges at trials down the hall from each other in Los Angeles.

    In New York, trials are underway in sexual assault lawsuits against actor Kevin Spacey and screenwriter-director Paul Haggis, both Oscar winners. Spacey’s defence rested Wednesday while lawyers for Haggis and his accuser gave opening statements in an adjacent courthouse. All of the men deny the allegations.

    A forcible touching case against another Academy Award winner, actor Cuba Gooding Jr., wrapped up in New York last week with a guilty plea to a non-criminal harassment violation and no jail time, to the dismay of at least some of his accusers.

    The confluence is a coincidence, but a striking one, amid a cultural movement that has demanded visibility and accountability.

    “We’re still very early on in this time of reckoning,” said Debra Katz, a Washington-based lawyer who has represented many sexual assault accusers. She isn’t involved in the Haggis, Masterson, Spacey or Weinstein trials.

    Besides their #MeToo reverberations, both Haggis’ case and Masterson’s have become forums for scrutinizing the Church of Scientology, though from different perspectives.

    In the case against Haggis, publicist Haleigh Breest claims that the “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby” screenwriter forced her to perform oral sex and raped her after she reluctantly agreed to a drink in his Manhattan apartment after a 2013 movie premiere. She’s seeking unspecified damages.

    She didn’t go public until after the allegations against Weinstein burst into view in 2017 and Haggis condemned him.

    “The hypocrisy of it made her blood boil,” lawyer Zoe Salzman said in her opening statement.

    Jurors will also hear from four other women who told Breest’s lawyers that Haggis sexually assaulted them, or attempted to do so, in separate encounters. One of them testified Wednesday, via videotaped questioning, that Haggis raped her during an after-hours meeting in her office in 1996 when both worked on a Canadian TV show.

    The jury won’t hear, however, that Italian authorities this summer investigated a sexual assault allegation against Haggis, which he denied.

    Haggis maintains that his encounter with Breest was consensual, and defence attorney Priya Chaudhry noted that the other women who are set to testify never took legal action of their own against him.

    “Paul Haggis is relieved that he finally gets his day in court,” Chaudhry told jurors.

    Both sides pointed to what Breest texted to a friend the day after the alleged attack.

    Her lawyer emphasized that Breest wrote that “he was so rough and aggressive. Never, ever again … And I kept saying no.” Haggis’ attorney, meanwhile, said Breest added “lol” — common texting shorthand for laughter — when she mentioned performing oral sex, and that she told the friend she wanted to be alone with Haggis again to “see what happens.”

    Chaudhry argued that Breest falsely claimed rape to angle for a payout. But the attorney also suggested another explanation for the allegations.

    Promising “circumstantial evidence,” she suggested that Scientologists ginned up Breest’s lawsuit to discredit him after he became a prominent detractor.

    The church denies any involvement, and Breest’s lawyers have called the notion a baseless conspiracy theory.

    “Scientology has nothing to do with this case” or with any of Haggis’ accusers, she told jurors. The church has said the same.

    Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals focused on spiritual betterment. Science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard’s 1950 book “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health” is a foundational text.

    The religion has gained a following among such celebrities as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. But some high-profile members have broken with it, including Haggis, singer Lisa Marie Presley and actor Leah Remini.

    In a memoir and documentary series, Remini said the church uses manipulative and abusive tactics to indoctrinate followers into putting its goals above all else, and she maintained that it worked to discredit critics who spoke out.

    The church has vociferously disputed the claims.

    Haggis says he was a Scientologist for three decades before leaving the church in 2009. He slammed it as “a cult” in a 2011 New Yorker article that later informed a book and an HBO documentary, and he foreshadowed that retribution would come in the form of “a scandal that looks like it has nothing to do with the church.”

    The church, which didn’t respond to a request for comment this week, has repeatedly said Haggis lied about its practices to get attention for himself and his career.

    Masterson’s lawyer, meanwhile, is asking jurors to disregard the actor’s affiliation with Scientology, though prosecutors say the church discouraged two of his three accusers from going to authorities. All three are former members.

    Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday in a $40 million lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp who says Spacey made a sexual pass at him in 1986 when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26. Spacey denies the encounter ever happened.

    Weinstein is facing his second criminal trial, this time set in L.A. and involving five women and multiple rapes and sexual assault charges. He is already serving a 23-year prison sentence on a rape and sexual assault conviction involving two women in New York.

    The Associated Press does not usually name people alleging sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Breest and Rapp have done.

  • Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pleads not guilty to UK sexual assault charges

    By Associated Press

    LONDON: Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of sexually assaulting three men a decade or more ago and was told he would face trial next year.

    Spacey, 62, stood in the dock and spoke clearly as he replied “not guilty” to each of the five charges during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey.

    Judge Mark Wall set a date of June 6, 2023, for the trial to start and said it would last three to four weeks. It is likely to be at the Old Bailey, the venue for Britain’s highest-profile criminal trials.

    The former “House of Cards” star, who ran London’s Old Vic theatre between 2004 and 2015, denied four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

    The incidents allegedly took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.

    Space’s lawyer previously said the actor “strenuously denies” the allegations.

    Spacey, who has addresses in London and the U.S., was granted bail and allowed to return to the United States after a preliminary hearing last month. The judge continued the actor’s unconditional bail on Thursday, and said another pretrial hearing would be held early in 2023.

    Spacey thanked the judge at the end of the 15-minute hearing. He made no comment as he left court and was ushered through a crowd of photographers and camera crews into a chauffeur-driven car.

    Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.”

    But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.

    Spacey faces a separate civil sex-assault lawsuit from Rapp in U.S. federal court in New York.

    LONDON: Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of sexually assaulting three men a decade or more ago and was told he would face trial next year.

    Spacey, 62, stood in the dock and spoke clearly as he replied “not guilty” to each of the five charges during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey.

    Judge Mark Wall set a date of June 6, 2023, for the trial to start and said it would last three to four weeks. It is likely to be at the Old Bailey, the venue for Britain’s highest-profile criminal trials.

    The former “House of Cards” star, who ran London’s Old Vic theatre between 2004 and 2015, denied four counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

    The incidents allegedly took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and one in western England in April 2013. The victims are now in their 30s and 40s.

    Space’s lawyer previously said the actor “strenuously denies” the allegations.

    Spacey, who has addresses in London and the U.S., was granted bail and allowed to return to the United States after a preliminary hearing last month. The judge continued the actor’s unconditional bail on Thursday, and said another pretrial hearing would be held early in 2023.

    Spacey thanked the judge at the end of the 15-minute hearing. He made no comment as he left court and was ushered through a crowd of photographers and camera crews into a chauffeur-driven car.

    Spacey won a best supporting actor Academy Award for the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” and a lead actor Oscar for the 1999 movie “American Beauty.”

    But his celebrated career came to an abrupt halt in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused the star of assaulting him at a party in the 1980s, when Rapp was a teenager. Spacey denies the allegations.

    Spacey faces a separate civil sex-assault lawsuit from Rapp in U.S. federal court in New York.

  • Kevin Spacey ‘confident’ he can clear his name

    By IANS

    LONDON: Actor Kevin Spacey will “voluntarily” return to the UK after being charged with sexual assault and is “confident” he can clear his name.

    The former ‘House of Cards’ star was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK over a number of incidents, which were alleged to have taken place between March 2005 and August 2008 in London, and in April 2013 in Gloucestershire, and following claims he was set to be formally extradited from the US to face the charges, the 62-year-old actor has now insisted he will “voluntarily” fly to England to appear in court, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

    He said in a statement released to ‘Good Morning America’: “I very much appreciate the Crown Prosecution Service’s statement in which they carefully reminded the media and the public that I am entitled to a fair trial, and innocent until proven otherwise.

    “While I am disappointed with their decision to move forward, I will voluntarily appear in the U.K. as soon as can be arranged and defend myself against these charges, which I am confident will prove my innocence.”

    It was announced last week Kevin would face charges of four counts of sexual assault against three men, and an additional charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent – is facing the allegations following a review of evidence collected by the Metropolitian Police.

    The reported incidents took place between March 2005 and August 2008 in London, and in April 2013 in Gloucestershire.

    Rosemary Ainslie – head of the CPS Special Crime Division – said in a statement: “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men. He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation.

    “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”

    The ‘American Beauty’ actor has denied all allegations against him.

    The charges come after a series of legal battles for the actor after allegations of sexual assault and misconduct were first made public in 2017 by actor Anthony Rapp, who alleged the star assaulted him when he was just 14 years old, after inviting him to his apartment for a party.

    In the lawsuit, he claimed Spacey grabbed his backside without permission and then lifted him onto a bed, before climbing on top of him and said he still suffers from extreme emotional distress as a result.

    In a statement in March, Spacey said: “I met [Rapp] several decades ago. I never had a sexual encounter with Mr. Rapp. Nor did I harbour any sexual interest or desire in Mr. Rapp at that time or any time.”

    The lawsuit is set to go trial on October 4.

  • Hollywood star Kevin Spacey charged with sexual offences against men in UK

    By PTI

    LONDON: Hollywood star Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Thursday.

    The 62-year-old Oscar-winning American actor, behind famous films such as ‘Usual Suspects’ and ‘American Beauty’ and the Netflix political drama ‘House of Cards’, has also served as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theatre from 2004 to 2015.

    “The CPS has authorised criminal charges against Kevin Spacey, 62, for four counts of sexual assault against three men,” said Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division.

    “He has also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. The charges follow a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation,” she said.

    “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial,” she added. The CPS said it is extremely important there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

    The charges date back to March 2005 in London against a man now in his 40s and two others dated August 2008 against a man now in his 30s. A charge dated April 2013 relates to sexual assault in Gloucestershire, south-west England, against a man now in his 30s. The charges announced this week follow an investigation launched by Scotland Yard back in 2017.

    “The CPS’ charging decision follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police Service in its investigation,” the Met Police said.

    The CPS highlighted that it is not for the prosecution service to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make “fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider”.

    It noted that the CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct.

    It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, the CPS said. The actor, whose full name is Kevin Spacey Fowler, has previously denied allegations against him.