Kevin Spacey told man to ‘be cool’ as he kissed neck and grabbed him, court hears
Kevin Spacey told a man he met in a pub to “be cool, be cool” as he kissed his neck and grabbed his crotch just hours after meeting him, a court has heard.
The alleged victim told police officers that when he moved Spacey away, saying he “did not bat for that team”, the Hollywood actor appeared “panicked”.
Jurors heard evidence from the man’s police interview at Southwark Crown Court today ahead of the complainant giving evidence to the court on Wednesday. He will be the second accuser to answer questions during the trial.
Spacey, 63, is facing 12 sexual offence charges in relation to four men which allegedly took place between 2001 and 2013, all of which he vehemently denies.
Read more: Kevin Spacey trial – as it happens in court
An artist’s sketch of Kevin Spacey in court earlier in the trial. Pic: Elizabeth Cook/PA
In the second accuser’s police interview, the man said he met Spacey at a countryside pub and was later invited, with others, back to a property at which the actor was staying.
Here, he accidentally let Spacey’s dog out of a room, the court heard, and it was this that preceded the alleged sexual assault.
Accuser says Spacey looked ‘panicked’ when he moved him away
After telling the police officer conducting the interview that he apologised to the actor for the dog momentarily escaping, the complainant said: “At which point he came towards me in a huggy motion and said ‘don’t worry about it, it is cool, it is cool’.
“We did an awkward man hug as I call it – he hugged me, I did a sort of pat on the back type of thing. At that point he kissed my neck twice and grabbed my crotch. He said the words, ‘be cool, be cool’, twice.”
The man then told the officer that he put his arm between them to move Spacey away. “I said, ‘I am sorry man, I don’t bat for that team’,” the complainant said in his interview.
The alleged victim said that after he rejected Spacey, the star had an “immediate panicked look on his face” before he left the room.
The complainant told police he swiftly left the property and called his father to pick him up, becoming “teary”.
Asked how he felt about the alleged incident, he said it “shook” him and that it was “unwanted”. He added that he has since “stopped ever watching or purchasing anything [Spacey] had ever been involved in”.
However, “the next morning I… got on with things”, he told the officer.
Alleged incident became a ‘joke’ – which ‘helped’
The man said he became “quite open” with people about the alleged incident and began to feel that while it was an “aggressive come-on”, he had not been “harmed”.
He told the police officer that over time the alleged incident became more of an “anecdote” and a “running joke” among friends – that it was joked his “claim to fame” was that “the same hand that held an Oscar” had grabbed his crotch, the court heard.
The accuser told the officer that treating it in this way “helped”.
He also gave details of the events leading up to the alleged incident, saying Spacey had been drinking double Jack Daniels and Coke before driving about six people to the property he was staying at.
At the start of the interview, the man told the officer that he eventually called the non-emergency police number when he saw other allegations come out against Spacey in the news.
The charges against Spacey
On Tuesday, the court also heard evidence from the brother and two former partners of the first alleged victim, who all told jurors that the complainant had told them about alleged sexual assaults by Spacey, and said any such incidents would not have been consensual.
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.
The trial continues – and jurors will hear from the second alleged victim tomorrow.
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Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’
Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.
In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.
The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.
In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade
Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.
“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.
“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”
Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.
But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.
Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.
The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.
Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy
While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.
“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.
“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”
In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.
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Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough
“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”
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In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.
“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”
Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November
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