A former aspiring actor has told a court he believes he was drugged by “vile sexual predator” Kevin Spacey before he allegedly woke to find the Hollywood star performing a sex act on him at his London flat.
The man – the last of four complainants to give evidence against the double-Oscar winner during a trial at Southwark Crown Court in London – became emotional as he recalled the alleged offence in a police interview played to jurors, and later answered questions under cross-examination from behind a screen in court.
The alleged victim said that before he fell asleep, Spacey “circled like a shark” – and described the alleged attack as “completely traumatic and life-ruining”.
Later, responding to defence lawyer Patrick Gibbs KC’s questions about the complainant’s sexuality and whether he was confused about what happened, he called the questioning “reprehensible”.
“I was taken advantage of, I believe drugged, sexually assaulted,” the man told the court.
Spacey, 63, denies 12 sexual offence charges – including one charge of sexual assault and one charge of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity, in relation to the fourth complainant.
Jurors heard how the aspiring actor wrote to the Hollywood star asking for mentorship and was “dumbstruck” to receive a call a few weeks later suggesting they meet later that evening.
He had been told the American Beauty and The Usual Suspects actor liked “young, straight men” but did not know at this point that “he was a predator”, jurors heard.
In his police interview, the man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said the Hollywood star made him feel “weirdly special” by asking him to meet for a beer. The alleged victim was “starstruck” and did not question his intentions, the court heard.
Giving details of the night of the alleged sexual offence, the complainant said he met Spacey in London at about 11pm and that they walked for about 10 minutes before the actor invited him into his flat.
The man told the officer he drank a couple of beers and smoked part of a joint with Spacey. At some point, the House Of Cards star went to hug the man as they sat on the sofa in the living room area, and then rubbed his face into the complainant’s crotch, jurors heard.
The alleged victim said he remembered looking at the “bald patch” on the back of Spacey’s head and thinking what was happening was “one of the strangest moments of my life” – and something he would “never forget”.
Alleged victim ‘conked out’
The man told police he was “very nervous” and felt “vulnerable” during the alleged incident but he did not leave at this point.
He questioned his own behaviour, whether he was being a “d***head” and if this was just how some people behaved in the “theatre world”, jurors heard from his police interview.
He also did not want to “annoy” Spacey, the court was told.
“You just don’t want to annoy someone who is that powerful in the business you are trying to break in to,” the man told the police officer. “The social sway he had was massive.”
After about an hour at the flat, things started to become “hazy” and he “conked out”, the man told the officer, saying this was “unusual”.
When he woke a few hours later, Spacey was kneeling on the floor, performing a sex act on him, it was alleged.
“Going to sleep isn’t something I would normally do – it is unusual in my behaviour just to conk out,” the complainant told the officer.
“I remember four to five hours later waking up – my belt was still together but my button and my zip were down and he’s just performed [a sex act] on me.”
Spacey ‘incredibly dismissive’
The alleged victim said he told Spacey “no” and “pushed” him off.
“My belt was still together but the rest of it was undone,” he told the officer about his trousers. He was “massively in shock”, the court heard.
Spacey then said it was “best” that he left and told him not to tell anyone, the man claimed.
Becoming emotional in his police interview, the man said he did not know how long the alleged sex offence went on for or exactly what happened while he was asleep.
Spacey was “incredibly dismissive” afterwards, he added.
The complainant said he later “completely buried” the alleged incident. Asked by the officer whether he thought about reporting it to police before he eventually did, he said he feared this could have affected his acting career, and that he might have been “slammed” by a “hotshot” lawyer of Spacey’s.
“It’s David and Goliath,” he told the police officer.
The man added that while “your gut tells you” that you are not “unique” and there might have been others, he did not have the “confidence” to come forward.
The alleged victim said he eventually found the confidence to report the incident when allegations were first made about the now disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017.
‘Nothing happened that was consensual’
Under cross-examination from Spacey’s lawyer in court, the complainant answered questions about phone calls on the night of the alleged sexual offence. He denied a call after midnight, lasting 19 seconds, was Spacey calling him after he left the flat – earlier than his account of how long he was there on the night.
Mr Gibbs put it to the alleged victim that he had “upped and left” without any proper explanation after “intimate contact” between the pair.
The man denied this. “Nothing happened that was consensual”, he said.
Mr Gibbs later asked if the complainant questioned his sexuality after the alleged incident with the Hollywood actor. He denied this but said the incident had been a “confusing thing to come to terms with”.
Asked about his sexuality and if his way of processing a consensual act might have been to say it happened when he was asleep, the alleged victim said he found the line of questioning “reprehensible”.
Mr Gibbs then asked what the complainant would think of someone who engaged in a sexual act with someone solely in the “hope of advancing their career”. The man said this would be “abhorrent”.
He told the court that if he was attracted to men he would be happy to explore this, but he isn’t. “The only time I have experienced something sexual with a man is when I was sexually assaulted by that vile sexual predator,” the man said.
Spacey pleaded not guilty in July 2022 to four charges of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
In January this year, he pleaded not guilty to seven further charges – three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
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Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Sam Moore, who sang Soul Man and other 1960s hits in the legendary Sam & Dave duo, has died aged 89.
Moore, who influenced musicians including Michael Jackson, Al Green and Bruce Springsteen, died on Friday in Coral Gables, Florida, due to complications while recovering from surgery, his publicist Jeremy Westby said.
No additional details were immediately available.
Moore was inducted with Dave Prater into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”